Wholly Given Over to Unfamiliar Affections
by phabulousphantom
Summary: Nine months of living and training with Sebastian and Grelle and Auden is finally ready to take her examination to become an official Shinigami. The cards seem to be in her favor, but even if she does pass, things might not go quite as smoothly as she'd hope. Fate may not be so kind to her misfit family.
1. Exam

_Author's Note: Welcome!_

 _This story contains an original character and a context based largely on previous stories of mine, which the narrative here will assume you've read._

 _For where Auden comes from and what she's all about, please see_ Let the Living Creature Lie.

 _For the start to Grelle and Sebastian's rather unlikely pairing, please see_ Prelude.

 _If you don't give a damn about reading things in order, then go ahead and start right here, you rebel you._

* * *

Auden had never been so nervous for an exam in her entire existence. Looking back on her life as a human it almost seemed stupid now to have been worried about maths and geography and spelling tests. Stupid to worry about grades at all. None of it had any real value, especially since she'd taken her own life and become what she was. Tests, grades, other people's opinions, when you were immortal, what did it matter? But this test— _this_ test would decide whether or not she would graduate as a reaper. This test would determine her fate as a Shinigami.

She was standing in the waiting room for the Management Division's offices with Sebastian and Grelle, one of thirty or so other Shinigami who were there to take their tests. She swallowed, looking at them. Most were older than she was, already having reached the average mid-twenties look to every grim reaper. A couple were young, like she was, there with mentors. Like she was.

The past nine months living with Sebastian and Grelle had been spent in avid preparation for today. Hell, she'd been _doing_ the job for those nine months just fine. What did Dispatch need to test her for? Her palms were sweaty and nervous around the handle of her large, wooden training Scythe. She jumped when Grelle put a hand on her shoulder.

"You'll be fabulous," she said.

Auden wasn't so sure about that. Her training glasses slipped a little on her nose and she pushed them up. Grelle just smiled.

"Don't let William intimidate you," she added. "He's really a softie at heart."

"Yes, and underneath that heart is another layer that's composed entirely of ice and stone," Sebastian grumbled.

Grelle whacked him, putting on an even bigger plastered smile for Auden.

"He's just joking, darling."

William was only Auden's manager because William was Grelle's manager, and given what little regard William had for Grelle, Auden had been on the receiving end of his irritation more times than she could remember. That had her more nervous than anything. What if he decided not to pass her because of his feelings toward Grelle?

At the other end of the room, a door opened and a Shinigami emerged, calling them all to enter and begin the written portion of the exam. Auden swallowed. This was it. Part one.

Grelle had to give her a little push to get her legs moving.

"Good luck," she said.

Auden nodded, starting forward and falling into place with the others under examination. She'd need all the luck she could get.

* * *

If that little tosser didn't pass, Grelle was going to murder her. She wasn't worried, really, just that Auden was a smart ass, and, at this point in the process, give a reaper any reason to fail you and they would. As long as Auden kept her mouth shut, she'd be fine. Grelle waved goodbye as she disappeared through the doors with the others.

"Do you think she studied enough?" Sebastian asked, looking down at Grelle as she moved to take a seat on one of the benches.

"Yes, I think the one million and one practice quizzes you gave her were plenty," she replied, laughing when he frowned at her.

The final test had changed fifty times at least since Grelle's inception as a reaper. No more doubles, no more field exam. At one point, newbies had had to spend a week in the backwoods of Bulgaria trying to fend off demons coming in from the mountains, but that went about as well as it sounded like it would. Now it was just a written exam, an interview, and a collection of data from a chip inside the training Scythe. That and whether or not your Manager was in a good mood.

"She's a smart girl, don't you worry."

"I'm not worried," Sebastian replied, bristling like it had been an accusation. Grelle smiled. He and Auden really had bonded, though Sebastian would never admit it.

"That's not an insult, love."

Muttering something under his breath, Sebastian took a seat beside her and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. Grelle brushed her fingers across his shoulders and he bristled again, but soon relaxed, letting her continue the motion. Grelle glanced up, at the other mentors who were waiting for their mentees like she was. They always gave Sebastian a wide berth when he came to Dispatch, and today was no exception. The reapers had gathered in one corner, exchanging looks and whispered comments, but Grelle would have been lying if she'd said she didn't secretly enjoy it. Everybody knew who they were—the red reaper Grelle and her scary demon consort. She was like a celebrity.

"What happens if she doesn't pass?"

Sebastian glanced back at Grelle, the slightest nervous pucker showing between his eyebrows. Grelle smiled.

"She'll pass."

"And when she does?"

Grelle looked away. It was anybody's guess after that. If Auden was accepted as a member of the Retrieval Division, she'd enter as a Shinigami in her own right—not some lost little puppy who was leashed to Grelle's side. If she passed, she'd become part of the system, be assigned an official partner and her own souls to collect. If she was completely honest with herself, Grelle had been dreading this day for some time. This could very well mean goodbye.

"Will she stay with us?" Sebastian asked, seeming to have sensed her thoughts.

Grelle shook her head. "I don't know."

* * *

As soon as she finished her written exam, Auden was ushered into an empty room and told to sit in one of the two empty chairs, so she did, but she'd been sitting for a while now and had to keep wiping the sweat from her palms on the legs of her pants. Where was William? What was taking so long? He could be there any second, but he wasn't. Auden didn't know what to do. Was she supposed to do anything? She felt pretty confident she'd passed the written portion. Didn't she? Oh god, what if they failed her?

The door opened.

Auden's heart jumpstarted and she looked back over her shoulder with a jolt at William who had his back to her as he was closing the door. Turning around, he just stood there for a very long moment, eyeing her down the length of his nose.

He didn't say anything.

Coming forward, William opened a file, slipped the papers out and clipped them to a clipboard. He sat. He was silent. His eyes flicked, flicked, flicked over the papers on his clipboard. He didn't say anything. Auden could hear her heartbeat in her ears and jumped when William finally looked up.

"Please state your name for the record."

"A-Auden Lord."

"Thank you."

He went back to the paperwork, made a few notes. Oh god how could she have made a mistake already. That was her name, wasn't it? Auden Lord? She resisted the urge to scowl at herself. Of course that was her name, stop being so stupid.

"I won't waste time with unnecessary chatter," William said, sitting up and prompting Auden to do the same even though she was about as straight-backed as she could be. "Given the data from your training Scythe and your score on the written exam, I've decided to put you through."

Auden nearly fell out of her seat.

"Your trainer states that you're good with a staff weapon, but that the reach of the scythe blade is awkward for you. Would you agree?" He looked up matter-of-factly and Auden shifted under the weight of his eyes.

"Yes," she answered, not knowing whether she should be ashamed of that or not.

"Based on a comprehensive evaluation and several staff recommendations, Administration has decided to issue you a hula hoe."

"A hula _what?_ "

"Hula hoe. Good. If you'll follow me?"

He got up and Auden started, scrambling out of her seat, though she hesitated and mostly just succeeded in looking particularly awkward. He'd actually _passed_ her. William gave her this look like he had so many better things to do than deal with her. It made her frown. Wasn't dealing with her his _job?_ Was that why he'd passed her so quickly?

Regardless, William headed out of the room and Auden followed close behind him, unable to decide how close was too close. She didn't want to lag behind, since he'd probably get touchy about that, but if she got inside his bubble, she didn't imagine that being very pretty either. As she hovered somewhere in the middle, he led her down the hall to Administration, and through the doors there into a large white room lined with Death Scythes.

"Stand there," he said, and pointed at a strip of black tape in the middle of the floor.

Auden obeyed, folding her hands together and looking around, eyes wide. The walls were covered floor to ceiling in all kinds of what she guessed would probably be classified as "staff weapons". Tall ones, short ones, shovels and rakes. Pointy things that looked like elongated spades which she couldn't have put a name to if she tried. William went to a section of hula hoes, apparently, and looked for one in particular.

"Yes. Here. Seven-oh-six-oh-four."

He grabbed one of the Scythes and brought it over to her. A long staff of black wood with a flattened loop of metal in the shape of a trapezoid poking off the top. The silvery surface of the metal glinted off the fluorescent light as William held it out.

"This one is yours."

Swallowing, Auden took it from him. She shifted a little when he let go officially and it fell into her hands, but was surprised to find that, in spite of its size, the Death Scythe felt light. She gripped the shaft. It felt _good_.

"A match, yes?"

Auden nodded. Was this how Grelle felt about her chainsaw, because she totally got it now. Five seconds ago she didn't even know this thing was called a hula hoe, now she didn't want to part with it.

William stepped back. "Try it out."

She'd practiced a lot with the wooden Scythe she'd been issued, so she knew how to swing a staff. She adjusted her grip a little to account for the extra length, took a stance, and made a swipe. The hoe followed her effortlessly. Grelle was right—the shape of the scythe blade really _had_ slowed her down, but now that she was free from it, she found herself picking up speed, moving faster, swifter, flowing through swings and stances like a breeze. It made her giddy. She even giggled a little when William held up his hand to stop her.

"Looks like a good fit. Three weeks from now, you can put in a request for modifications, including lengthening or shortening of the blade, adjustments to the shaft. Anything that will make it a more effective weapon for you. Three _months_ from now you can file a request for changes to its aesthetic appearance."

She didn't care. It could have been hot pink with zebra stripes and she would have loved it all the same. She nodded vigorously, holding the staff close to her body. She couldn't wait to show it to Grelle.

"Go to the front desk and check it out," William said, walking to the door and holding it open for Auden to scurry through. "When you remove it or return it from here on, you'll always do so through the Administration desk. Understood?"

"Yes, absolutely. Yes."

He gestured toward the desk and she dashed over, ready to fill out the paperwork.

* * *

"Where is she?" Sebastian asked, frowning for the thousandth time at Grelle as he glanced from the wall clock to her face. It _had_ been several hours. "She'd be back by now if she didn't make it through, right?"

Auden burst through the doors exactly then, carrying her new Death Scythe close and absolutely beaming. She lit up the room, looking around for Grelle and Sebastian and coming running when she found them, shouting, "I passed! I passed!" and very nearly jumping in the air.

They'd stood up to meet her and as Auden wriggled excitedly in front of Grelle, she couldn't help the smile that took over her face. She'd never seen Auden like this.

"Look, look!" she gushed and held the Scythe out. "It's wonderful. It's perfect. I love it."

Grelle laughed. "I can see that."

"Oh, and look." Her expression turned smug, though it was playful, and she flipped a piece of paper out as well. "You and I are still partners."

 _What?_ Grelle snatched the paper out of her hands and scanned it rapidly. It was…it was _genuine_. She looked at Auden. Her heart beat fast.

"They gave you to _me?_ "

"Yeah, isn't it great?"

It was wonderful, it was perfect, she loved it. Biting back tears, Grelle snatched Auden up into a ferocious hug and held on for dear life. She wouldn't have to say goodbye to her darling. Auden wasn't going anywhere. Grelle couldn't help it—a few of the tears trickled over.

"You're crushing me, you big baby," Auden said on a muffled laugh and so Grelle was forced to let go. She held her at arm's length, though, and just looked at her for a moment. Auden looked back and laughed.

"Stop crying," she said. "You'll make me start."

Grelle sniffed. "I'm sorry, I'm just happy."

Auden nodded, and smiled, looking at her feet. "Me too."

Grelle looked up at Sebastian and beamed. He took her and Auden under either of his arms, pulling them in.

"Look at my girls."

He gave Auden a kiss on the top of her head before glancing over at Grelle and her stupid smiling face and kissing her as well. She couldn't have been more pleased. She kissed him back, happy and relieved all at once.

"Stop it, you two. This is supposed to be _my_ moment."

Auden flapped a hand in their faces and Grelle started laughing and Sebastian caught it and had to pull away and in a second Auden was laughing as well and then the three of them were standing in Dispatch laughing like a bunch of idiots until tears ran down their faces.

Once they'd settled down, Auden looked up expectantly at Grelle.

"I get my glasses now, right?"

Grelle put her arm around Auden's shoulders and started out of the room. "Let's go see Pops."


	2. Eager

The bright blue square frames of her new glasses fitted Auden's features beautifully. She was perfectly at home in them. Sebastian had noticed her sneaking peeks at herself in almost every reflective surface in the house since they'd been home. She'd been eager to go down to the gym and spar with him as well, saying something about needing practice killing demons, but Grelle had made her stow the new Death Scythe away somewhere safe until their shift that night and sent her to bed.

They could hear her stomping around in her room above them, being purposefully loud to let Grelle know she wasn't going to bed any time soon. Grelle tucked her legs up on the couch and rested her elbow on the back, propping her head on her fist. Chuckling, Sebastian took a seat beside her.

"She isn't a child. You don't have to be so cruel."

"Oh, I'm cruel now, am I?" Grelle replied, raising her eyebrows at him. "It's a late shift and it's long. I want her rested."

"She isn't going to sleep. She's going to stay up looking at herself in the bathroom mirror," he laughed.

Even Grelle had to chuckle a little bit at that, leaning forward until her chin rested on his shoulder. "She did look pretty in her new glasses, though. Don't you think?"

"I do think." She smiled and he kissed the tip of her nose. "She's come a long way thanks to you."

"And you," Grelle replied. "I couldn't have done it alone."

Sebastian sighed. He supposed that was true, though he didn't know how much help he'd been. Auden still woke up in cold sweats in the middle of the night, still had her terrors now and again. She was better now than she'd ever been, but humans—well, she wasn't technically human, but she had been once—took a long time to heal. In the meantime, he'd been keeping his ear to the ground for any whisperings from the reapers about what they planned to do with Nick's soul. Nine months and they were still debating. If he could, if they showed even the slightest hint of passing it on to him, he would seize it and make sure Nick's final descent into destruction was poetically painful.

"Sebastian?"

He snapped to attention, looking down at Grelle. His lips were curled up over his teeth and a slight growl had started to rumble at the back of his throat.

"You all right?" she asked.

He nodded. The tension was getting to him again. Not nearly as much as in times past, but when he thought about Nick he—

" _Sebastian._ "

The growl had resurfaced. Grelle secured her hand around the back of his neck and pulled herself forward to press her lips to his mouth. Leaning back for a moment, she studied him. He looked at her, trying to calm the furious beating of his heart. Smiling a little, Grelle shook her head. She knew what he was thinking about.

"You've got to let it go, love."

No. How could he? After what Nick had done? After what Auden had suffered? He would never let it go, not until he knew the bastard had paid for his crimes with every inch of his existence. Grelle should have understood, she knew better than he did exactly what had happened between them. She'd seen it in Nick's Cinematic Record.

Grelle pushed his hair back out of his face and let her hand linger for a moment on his cheek.

"She's safe, Sebastian. She can fend for herself."

It wasn't about safety, it was about revenge or justice or something along those lines, but Sebastian couldn't put it into words. He just looked at Grelle and whatever expression was on his face made her laugh. Sighing, she scooted over so she was sitting on his lap and draped her arms over his shoulders.

"And she's got us," she said.

He couldn't help pulling her close, placing his arms around her waist. "What if there comes a time when she doesn't have us?"

"Isn't independence kind of the goal?"

"Certainly. But what if that day comes before she's ready?"

A short, somewhat frustrated laugh accompanied another shake of Grelle's head. "Mr. Doom and Gloom, aren't you?" She rolled her eyes, kissed his neck. "What could possibly happen to us?"

There were a myriad of things, but Grelle put her lips to his neck again and he didn't have the thought to answer.

* * *

Auden stood staring in front of the bathroom mirror. She was supposed to be brushing her teeth, combing her hair, going to sleep so she'd be ready for her two AM shift with Grelle, her first shift, _her first shift,_ but she was a real Shinigami now with her own Death Scythe and everything. Sleep seemed so trivial.

She caught herself smiling. She didn't usually smile. She didn't usually feel happy, but living with Sebastian and Grelle she'd probably spent more minutes happy over that year than in her whole life before them put together. How strange.

Once she'd finished getting ready for bed, she found she hardly wanted to take her glasses off to sleep. She plucked them from her face with a delicate hand, placed them carefully on her nightstand, just looking at them folded up there for a moment. They were perfect. When Pops had given them to her, Sebastian had said something strange. She fought to remember it for a moment.

"They're the color of her soul."

What did that mean? Did all souls have a color? What color was Grelle's? If they had color, did that mean they had flavor as well? Demons must have had very different perception from reapers. There was no way Auden was going to be able to sleep.

She got up, went into her closet to look at her Scythe, at the soul register she and Grelle had been issued before they left. Sitting cross-legged on the floor with her Scythe across her lap, Auden flipped through the register, glancing over all the names. As soon as she'd finished, she looked through it again. And again…and again…and again...

* * *

 _Author's Note: It's short, it's short, I know! Forgive me. I will have more posted tomorrow that will make up for it, I swear on my life._

 _In the meantime, I'm on Tumblr now under the url itsphabulousphantom, doing more silly Kuro things. If you're on Tumblr, I would LOVE to see what you guys are up to and for you to check out the rest of the weird garbage I spend my time creating. Take a look, give me a follow if you like, and I'll follow back because you guys are great._

 _Thank you, again and as always, for reading! Much love._

 _~Phab_


	3. Eclipsed

Auden pushed her glasses up on her nose and tried to swallow down the nervous butterflies in her stomach before she yawned. She'd been out on collection with Grelle hundreds of times by now, but never as a fully recognized Shinigami. She had her own glasses that didn't fall off her face, she had her own Death Scythe, sure she was the junior partner in their pairing, but Grelle had more than two hundred years on her. It was nothing to be upset about. For the first time she really felt like she knew what she was doing, and that was _exciting_. She wished she'd gotten a little more sleep.

The two of them perched on top of the building next to the empty playground where the collection was going to take place. A gang turf war with quite a few souls scheduled for reaping. Eleven in all. It was a pretty sizable job for a first-time Shinigami, but it was the perfect opportunity to prove herself. Auden couldn't wait.

Grelle seemed less eager. She strolled back and forth behind Auden, who was sitting on the edge of the roof, yawning and swinging her chainsaw around on her wrist. The job would probably become like that for Auden someday as well, but not tonight.

"Twelve minutes," she said, looking at her watch.

"And here they come…"

Grelle walked to the edge of the building and leaned over it, pointing at a group of dark figures hurrying through the shadows down on the street. Auden nodded. A second group appeared, coming from the other direction. In a matter of seconds they were shouting at each other, several more seconds and somebody pulled a knife and then things got brutal. Humans were so simpleminded.

The thought startled her. When had she stopped thinking of herself as human? She flexed her grip over the shaft of her Death Scythe. Maybe _that_ had something to do with it.

A light flicked on in the building where they were waiting. A voice shouted out the window, and the humans scattered, leaving eleven of their mates bleeding on the street. Those were the souls they were to collect. They'd bleed out in a few minutes and she and Grelle would be ready and waiting.

" _Bugger._ "

Auden looked up at Grelle. "What?"

"Demons," she said and, lifting her chainsaw, leapt off the side of the building.

It was fifteen stories up, and Auden had no choice but to follow her. Demons? What did she mean? Like, _demons_ demons? Swallowing, Auden gripped her Death Scythe and stood up. She wouldn't get hurt, but she might not land on her feet, either. Nothing for it. She jumped.

Her stomach and heart flew up into her mouth exactly like that feeling you get in dreams when you're falling and it made her breath hitch. Seconds later she met the ground, stumbling a bit, and then falling completely on her ass. Looking up, she saw Grelle in the center of the dying bodies, facing six or seven other shadows that lurked just beyond the reach of the streetlamp. They were silent, barely visible. It was a wonder Grelle had detected them at all. Auden would have to get better at that. Standing, she hurried over to back Grelle up. Not a very intimidating presence, granted, but she _was_ another reaper, and she hoped that counted for something with demons. She'd never met any outside of Sebastian and already she was getting the feeling he was different.

"Sorry, darlings," Grelle said, propping her chainsaw up on her shoulder, "No free meal today."

They hissed at her. It sounded like wind coming from all directions at once and made Auden's spine tingle.

"Red reaper."

Grelle giggled. "Do _you_ lot call me that? I _love_ it. It's so _sexy._ Don't you think, Auden?"

She glanced down at her and grinned, and Auden could only look back with a face of mild astonishment and concern. Should she be taunting them like that? As if Auden needed more evidence to confirm Grelle wasn't exactly sane...

One of the demons emerged from the shadows—looking human aside from his eyes which glowed red even in the light cast by the street lamps—and the others followed him. He chewed a toothpick in his teeth, and when he stopped, so did his cohorts. He must have been their leader. And he didn't think Grelle's comment was funny either.

"You have killed many of my brothers," he snarled.

Grelle smiled. "In all likelihood."

"You don't recall?"

"Why should I? A demon interferes with my collection, I kill it. Doesn't require much thought, really." She shrugged.

He narrowed his eyes. "You will suffer for it."

"Oh, sweetie. I really _do_ doubt that. Did you come here for souls or to pick a fight with me? Either way, you're going to be disappointed."

The engine of her chainsaw growled to life and Grelle flung it up over her head, charging out of the ring of bodies toward the demons. Auden started, gripping her Death Scythe in rigid hands, ready to attack after Grelle's lead—but. None of the demons moved. Not one of them. Suddenly—overhead—shadows, more demons came hurtling down upon them. Grelle hesitated, glancing up, and that was all it took.

At once the demons dropped their human forms and the playground was engulfed in darkness. Auden choked. One of the demons managed to land on top of Grelle, knocking her to the ground but she threw it off, recovering and taking a swing at it with her chainsaw, but it jumped back and two more took its place.

This was bad.

Auden's knees trembled. She clutched her Scythe. Grelle drew first blood from a trio of demons that got too close, but more came from behind—and…

Auden's throat tightened—breathe—they could do this, they'd be fine, but even as she watched, paralyzed, she knew. Back-up. They needed back-up. Luckily most of the demons were ignoring her and attacking Grelle. It wasn't lucky _exactly_ , at least not for her partner, but it _did_ leave Auden's hands free to scramble for her cell phone and punch in the number for Dispatch. It rang once, then the line clicked.

"Hello?! Dispatch? It's Auden Lord, I'm out on collection with my partner, Grelle Sutcliff, and we're being attacked, I-I-I don't know exactly, but there's a group of demons, twenty, maybe more, and they've completely overwhelmed us, we need back—"

A black hand slapped the phone out of Auden's fingers and took hold of her wrist in a grip so intense it burned. The phone clattered as the back came off and the battery popped out when it hit the ground. Apparently they _weren't_ ignoring her. The demon who'd wrecked her phone wrenched her around by her arm, bringing her face to face. It was the leader, the toothpick one, she could tell because he still chewed it. He laughed. Probably she looked terrified. She was. He seemed to think that was funny.

" _Scared,_ little Shinigami?" he chortled, throaty. "You _should_ be."

He yanked her arm behind her back then and Auden let out a cry, which he silenced almost immediately as he wrapped his free hand around her throat and cut off her airway. Auden tried to gasp as she struggled but she couldn't do even that. Her fingers weakened around her Scythe. Darkness crept in at the corners of her vision.

"Auden!"

That was Grelle. She sounded…distant. Behind that, shrieks of demons and the hum of a chainsaw. The dark closed in. Her Scythe fell from her hands.

The demon released his grip and dropped her to the ground. Collapsed, Auden gasped in a breath and choked on it, coughing and gasping again though it seared her throat to do it. Tried to sit up…no, she was too weak, gasping. She was forced to watch in agony as the demon picked up her Death Scythe and twirled it around in his hands.

He smiled maliciously down at her and said, "Thank you, little one, for the use of your toy. In payment, you will not have to be the first to die."

Auden looked as he turned and walked away. The other demons, they had overwhelmed Grelle. She fought still, but they had taken hold of her arms and legs and piled onto her back and the reach of her chainsaw was too long. She couldn't use it against them. The demon who had taken her Scythe strolled up behind Grelle and his comrades parted ranks. No. Oh, _no_. He—he had her _Scythe._ Auden tried to sit up, but her arms were shaking. She tried to shout, but her voice was ragged.

"No. Don't. Stop."

It was barely more than a whisper.

Very quickly the other demons had formed a sort of shackles around Grelle, holding her still before she even knew what was going on. In the blink of an eye, the demon took Auden's Scythe and rammed it straight through Grelle's back where it emerged from her chest drenched red with blood. The _sound_ it made… Grelle looked down in time to see the blade flip from vertical to horizontal before the demon pulled it back out and through her once more. She choked, coughed and spit up blood, a lot of blood, her grip finally slipping from the handle on her chainsaw as she collapsed. And Auden saw the whole thing.

And she _screamed_.

" _Grelle!_ "

Somehow she made it to her feet but she didn't get far before there were demons all over her, grabbing at her arms and legs and hair and middle until they had her in an inescapable prison. She twisted against them, but they were too strong and too many for her. She screamed and screamed and tears streamed down her face and the demons laughed in her ears. Grelle lay in a rising pool of her own blood, struggling for air like a fish out of water.

The demon stood over her, pointed the blade of the Scythe at her throat just under her chin.

"Show me your Record, insect," he snarled.

Grelle couldn't even respond. Auden couldn't have guessed what she might have said if she had been able to. She didn't even look cognizant. Just…dying. Still, her Cinematic Record hadn't shown itself. The demon wasn't happy about that.

"Show me all your secrets, Shinigami. Show me everything you're ashamed of."

He raised the Scythe high. A string of blubbering sounds slipped out of Auden's mouth. Snot ran down her nose and lips.

"No, no, no, no, no…"

He brought the hoe down on its edge through Grelle's throat. She choked and Auden shrieked, her entire body wracked with the torment of what was unfolding in front of her. She couldn't lose Grelle. Grelle couldn't leave her. This, this wasn't how it was supposed to be. She needed Grelle. He brought the Scythe up again. She screamed.

" _No!_ Stop it! _Stop it!_ "

But the demon wouldn't listen. Why should he? He stabbed Grelle again and again and Auden shredded her vocal chords on agony. Still, Grelle's Record did not appear. It only fueled the demon.

"Why. _Won't._ YOU. _DIE?_ "

He swung the hoe up and chopped at Grelle with each word, brutal punctuation marks. By now, Auden had given up, and she sobbed, limp in the grip of so many demons. How many hits from a Death Scythe could a reaper take? One more blow. That would be it for Grelle. She was sure.

Spattered with blood, the demon raised the Scythe once more to strike. Right at Grelle's heart. His eyes burned red with bloodlust. Hungry eyes. But just as he looked about ready to bring the hoe down to bear, the clipper on the end of a set of pruners shot out of the darkness and knocked the Scythe from his hands.

 _William_.

Shinigami suddenly swarmed the area in droves, at least two for every demon, and before Auden could comprehend their presence or be relieved, they had either chased the demons off or killed them, and collected each of the eleven souls that should have been Auden's and Grelle's.

 _Grelle_.

Someone was holding her up, but she pushed them off and went running, running for Grelle, and shoving her way between the group that had gathered around her. Auden was crying and shrieking all over again until she saw Grelle and fell silent.

Her eyes were closed. Her mouth hung open, filled with the blood that had pooled in her throat. She was in pieces practically. Wounded in so many places so many times that they had overlapped each other and become a hash of blood and sinew and muscle. Auden's knees went weak and she collapsed on them.

"He killed her with my Scythe," she whispered. Her bottom lip began to tremble. The thought was too much to bear. "He killed her with _my_ Scythe."

"She isn't dead."

William appeared, standing over her. He adjusted his glasses.

"At least not yet. We need to get her back to Dispatch. To the hospital."


	4. Edgy

Auden clutched the big plastic bowl to her stomach and stared at the linoleum. She'd felt like throwing up for the past hour, but hadn't been able to do much more than gag. A nurse had come and changed the bowl for her a few times when she'd brought up bile, but other than that…

She could _feel_ how pale she was. She couldn't stand this waiting—not knowing if Grelle was going to live or die. Not knowing if she was going to have to blame herself for the rest of her eternal life. Nobody came and brought her news. There wasn't any. Not yet anyway. She sat in the hall and trembled. Others passed her, but she was alone.

A nurse put a hand on her shoulder. "Miss Lord?"

She started, and looked up, and behind the nurse a little ways down the hall was Sebastian. The second she saw him, tears pooled up in her eyes and she knocked the bowl from her own hands as she stumbled to her feet, crossed the short distance between them, and threw herself into his open arms. He hugged her, held her, and she sobbed.

"I'm sorry, I'm so, so, sorry," she blubbered.

He stroked her hair and held her head against his chest. "Hush."

But she couldn't. She continued to sob, thinking about how much _she_ loved Grelle and how Sebastian loved her even _more_ and how _he_ would feel if they lost Grelle and how it had been her Scythe that had done the job. She would blame herself for it. She was already doing just that.

Sebastian let her cry and didn't say any useless things. That had always been her favorite part about him. He just held her and stroked her hair in his soothing way until she'd had it out with and just clutched onto him, sniffling. He was so warm, Auden couldn't help but take a little comfort as wretched as she felt.

He looked down at her. "Let's sit, hm?"

She nodded and he brought her over to the plastic-y couch where she'd been perched before and sat her down and put his arm around her and held her hand. She rested her head in the crook of his shoulder, silent tears still streaming down her face. He wouldn't say Grelle would be all right because he didn't know. And she would have been upset with him if he had.

"I'm sorry," she said again on a whisper into his shirt.

"You didn't do this," he replied.

"But I was _there_."

"That doesn't make you responsible, Auden."

She wanted to believe him, but she couldn't find it in her. If she hadn't have allowed that demon to disarm her, Grelle wouldn't be in the state she was in—teetering between life and death. _She_ was responsible for her Scythe, and it was her carelessness that had led to this disaster. At least, that was how it seemed.

They sat together for hours with very little news. Nurses and doctors appeared in the hallway and each time the two of them stiffened, prepared for the worst, but they always walked past. Sebastian continued to stroke Auden's hair, and as the hands moved slowly around each other on the clock, Auden's exhaustion began to overtake her. She'd fought too, been injured, had several bandages around her arms. She was almost asleep when a nurse finally stopped beside the couch.

"Mr. Michaelis?"

Sebastian tensed and it startled Auden out of her sleepiness, so she noticed the nurse too and suddenly felt very much like throwing up again. The two of them looked at the nurse, anxious, and Auden gripped Sebastian's hand.

"She's going to be all right."

A flood of one million emotions passed instantly through Auden's body on a single breath, and with it tears filled her eyes. _All right!_ Grelle was going to be all right! She wanted to start sobbing all over again, but she managed to keep it down to a whimper.

"She's very weak, and she's lost a lot of blood, but she's all patched up now," the nurse continued and gave them a kind smile. "She'll need lots of rest, and we'd like to keep her here for a few days just to make sure, but she'll be coming out of the anesthesia very soon."

Auden's bottom lip trembled when she spoke. "C-can we go s-see her, please?"

"Yes, of course you can," the nurse replied, putting a gentle hand on Auden's shoulder. "Of course. Come with me."

She offered Auden her hand and helped her off the couch as Auden wiped tears from her cheeks. Once the two of them were up, the nurse started off. Auden was already blubbering, reaching back for Sebastian with her free hand as they walked. He tapped her palm with two of his fingers to let her know he was there, and, comforted, Auden used the hand to wipe her nose.

The nurse led them quite a ways into the hospital wing, down lots of corridors until they'd left the bustle of the working area behind and come to a dim, quiet hallway filled with patient's rooms. Auden had never liked hospitals—the soft beeping, the antiseptic smell, the transitory atmosphere—and now was no exception, though she was grateful this time to have Sebastian with her. He came to a stop close behind her when the nurse paused in front of the door that must have been Grelle's.

"She'll be waking up soon, all right?" the nurse said and smiled again. "So just hang tight until she does. I'm sure she'll be glad to see you."

She opened the door and stepped inside, holding it open for Auden and Sebastian to come in behind her. The light was much brighter in the room than the hallway, and when Auden's eyes adjusted, she didn't like what she saw. What remained of Grelle lay in the bed in the center of the room, sort of propped up, mostly not, on the adjustable mattress, all sorts of wires and tubes attached to her, one for oxygen in her nose, others with liquids and things going into her hands, covered in white gauze all over, around her throat, while what was visible of her skin was sickly green and purple bruised, her red hair a strange haphazard hospital bun atop her head that made it look like she was bleeding profusely from her skull. _Beep…beep…beep_. That scientific heartbeat made Auden shiver.

She halted in the doorway while Sebastian went instantly to Grelle's side. He took up her hand gently in his own and, lacing her fingers with his, pressed it against his heart, looking down at her intently as if he was taking in every last detail of her injuries. After a moment he sat in the chair by the bedside and brought her hand to his lips, holding it there and pressing a kiss to its back. All the time his eyes did not leave her, but looked her over unwavering. He'd been far more worried than he'd led Auden to believe. She shrank back, guilty worms wriggling round in her heart. She'd been so selfish, sobbing all over him while he'd probably felt twice as miserable.

The nurse put a hand on her shoulder. "You can go over to her if you want? It's all right."

She raised her eyebrows in concern, but Auden shook her head, sniffing.

"No," she whispered, her throat tight. "I'm fine here."

Nodding, the nurse let her hand slip then straightened and turned to go. "I'll leave you with her now," she said. "There's a call button on the side of the bed if you need anything, okay?"

She slipped away and left them in the relative silence of the machines. Sebastian didn't call Auden over and she didn't go. She couldn't. She could barely stand to look at Grelle as it was from a distance.

Several minutes passed and every second was an eternal hell. Auden had wandered out of time altogether, and this would be her forever—standing against the wall, waiting. Grelle was still neither alive nor dead, not really. Not until she woke up. Auden couldn't take it. A scream was building inside of her, and just as it was about to break, Grelle stirred.

She drew in a deeper breath, her brows pulling together and her head turning slightly. Sebastian stood up, hovered over her in anticipation. A few seconds later she was blinking her eyes open, slowly, sleepily, and with a lot of tired effort. Sedate still, she noticed Sebastian and a weak smile crossed her mouth.

"Hi…" she whispered as her eyes shut once more. She couldn't keep them open.

Sebastian smiled back at her and leaned over to touch a kiss to her forehead. "Hello, my love." He pulled back slightly to look at her face. "How are you feeling?"

"Full of holes," Grelle responded, smiling feebly and laughing a little though it mostly sounded like a cough. That stab to her throat must have done something funny to her vocal cords.

Sebastian chuckled as well, kissing her lips. She smiled, but it faded as she struggled to keep her eyes open and look at him with concern.

"Where's Auden?" she asked.

Sebastian stepped to the side so Grelle could see her standing in the doorway from the bed. "Right there," he replied, smiling.

Grelle let out a sigh of relief. " _You're all right_ ," she breathed and closed her eyes.

Tears rose in Auden's eyes once more and started dripping down her face. Even after all she'd put Grelle through, the long nights, the complaining, the tantrums, all of it, near-fatal mistake with the Scythe included, Grelle still worried about her, still cared. It was overwhelming. Grelle reached out a hand to her.

"Get over here…you little shit."

Auden lost it completely, bolting across the room, straight for Grelle's arms, and Sebastian moved so she could wrap Auden into a hug. Her hold was weak, but it was the best feeling in the world.

" _I'm so sorry!_ " Auden wailed, already soaking the shoulder of Grelle's hospital gown with her tears.

"What for?"

"Th-this is my f-fault." She clutched on, her shoulders shaking with every sob.

"No…it isn't, darling."

Grelle put her hand on Auden's head, and she looked up, wiping her nose and eyes. Grelle smiled at her.

" _You_ saved me."

"H-how?" Auden sat up and tossed her hands in the air, frustrated. All she wanted was to blame herself and wallow in the misery of knowing she'd screwed up, but nobody would let her. They kept telling her it wasn't her fault, but if she had been better prepared, practiced more, gotten stronger, _something,_ none of this would have happened. Grelle pushed her hair back out of her face and strands of it got stuck in her tears.

"You called Dispatch," she said.

"But that demon took my—my _Scythe_ , and he—"

"The two of you couldn't have taken on that many demons alone," Sebastian said. It was the most he'd spoken since he'd arrived at the hospital. "You made the right choice calling for back up. They would have disarmed you eventually, and if you hadn't called, you'd both be dead."

Grelle could only find the strength to nod. Her hand searched Auden's out, so Auden took hold and looked at Grelle's face, and she looked awful, but she was _alive_. If what Sebastian said was true, could she really ask for anything else?

"Grelle's always been too proud to ask for help," Sebastian continued, smiling down at her and brushing his fingers through her hair.

"Shut up," she replied, half a scowl crossing her drowsy features. "I almost died."

"Yes. And I will find the ones who did this to you and tear them limb from limb," he said, his voice gone dark and deep and vicious as he leaned in and touched a kiss to her mouth. Auden almost didn't hear him. But she did, and she could tell it was a _promise_.

The brutality of the statement didn't seem to faze Grelle in the least. She only said, "All right," and closed her eyes.

Sebastian titled his head at her. "Do you want to sleep?"

She nodded, already halfway there.

"Very well."

Auden got up. Sebastian found the lights and dimmed them, helped Grelle settle a little more comfortably around all the tubes and wires, and pulled the blankets up to the bottom of her chin like she liked. Grelle poked her hand out of the top of the sheets and he took it, stroking its back. Seconds later, she was asleep. Auden looked at her for a moment, then at Sebastian.

"You take such good care of people," she said softly.

"Only those who matter to me," he said, and held out his arm to her.

She went, wrapping her arms around his middle as he took her in by the shoulders to hug her, his other hand still tied to Grelle. Auden breathed in and then sighed. She should have tried to be there for him.

"I'm sorry about earlier. For being such a baby."

"Stop being sorry, Auden. You have nothing to be sorry for."

She pursed her lips, but nodded. They were quiet for a moment, watching Grelle, but eventually Sebastian spoke again.

"I hope you won't let this change your feelings about your Scythe," he said.

Auden looked up at him. "How can it _not?_ " She would see it bursting red from Grelle's chest every time she looked at it now.

"You must choose not to let it bother you. Grelle and I have mutually tried to kill each other, and nearly succeeded on both accounts, with _her_ Scythe, and she still carries it proudly."

"That's because _you're_ both lunatics," Auden replied. Seriously, though. How _did_ their relationship work?

Sebastian chuckled. "It is a tool for death, Auden. What it has done is what it was _made_ to do. In a more practiced hand, your Scythe would only have taken a few blows kill another reaper. You're fortunate to have a weapon that requires skill to wield."

A lightbulb flicked on. In order to die, a soul's Cinematic Record had to be severed with a Death Scythe, but Grelle's had never even turned up. Auden's mouth fell open a bit and she looked up at Sebastian. "The demon didn't know how to use it."

"Precisely." He smiled at her. "A hoe isn't exactly practical. Or modern."

"And how old are _you?_ "

That made him laugh and Auden smiled. Sebastian always did know how to make her feel better. Always had. From the moment they'd met, he'd understood her fundamentally. She couldn't imagine living forever without him and Grelle, and warmth spread from her heart, knowing now that she wouldn't have to. She tucked herself up against him and smiled. Her family was wonderful.


	5. Effect

Auden had fallen asleep in the recliner chair on the other side of Grelle's hospital bed under a set of scratchy hospital blankets, and when she woke up her mouth felt like it was full of cotton balls. Her neck kinked as she lifted her head, squinting through the darkness in the direction of the voices that had pulled her out of sleep. On the other side of the room, Sebastian was talking with William.

"…having some trouble locating them. I hate to request anything of a demon, or to collaborate with one, but you have proved reliable in the past. Would you give us your assistance in this?"

"If you had not asked me, I would have approached you myself."

Auden sat up a little too much and William noticed her, his bright green eyes flicking her direction through the murky room. The slightest sneer tugged at his upper lip and he adjusted his glasses. Sebastian turned his head to follow William's gaze and by then it was too late to fake being asleep. She sat up and tucked her legs underneath her, reaching for her glasses.

"Are you talking about the demons?" she whispered. Grelle was still sleeping, so it was best to keep quiet even though she probably could have slept through a war at this point.

William responded. "We are."

She nodded and tried to swallow down the dryness in her mouth without success.

"What's the scoop?"

He pursed his lips, but answered her question. "There has been difficulty locating some key members of the group, so I've asked Sebastian to accompany us and sniff them out."

"Oh."

He sneered. "I suppose you think you'd like to come along?"

A shiver shot down Auden's spine. Go with them? No. _No._ Not in a million years. She knew exactly what would happen if she went: she'd see that demon who'd disarmed her and completely lose her nerve. She'd freeze up and put everybody else at risk. No _way_ was she going back. She knew she wasn't ready.

"No," she said. "I'd be a liability."

William narrowed his eyes at her, almost like he was surprised that she was aware of her deficit or that she was smart enough to admit it. He didn't say anything.

"Someone needs to stay here with Grelle," Auden continued, "to keep her company. I'd like to do that. Sebastian will be more useful than me anyways." She looked at him and smiled. "You make sure to get that bastard, all right?"

Returning her smile, he bowed his head. "Of course, Auden."

She gave him a nod. It was as it should be. Grelle wouldn't have been happy to find both of them gone, and would have been _particularly_ unhappy to hear where they were going if Auden had gone with them. She didn't want to make her worry. Sebastian would get the job done. She'd heard what he'd said to Grelle.

"We'd like to get moving as soon as you're ready, Michaelis," William said.

Sebastian looked at him, serious. "I'm ready now."

"Well, then."

William turned on his heel and exited the room swiftly, Sebastian grabbing his coat and following close behind. He paused with his hand on the door and looked back at Auden.

"You take good care of our girl, all right?"

She nodded, shivering again. "I will."

He smiled. "See you soon."

* * *

Auden was even more crumpled when she woke up the second time. A little light shone in around the edges of the window shade, morning light, looked like, but the room was still dim and dark, and hot now. Easing her aching body out of the recliner she got up and fumbled around the room searching for the AC. Grelle's heart beeped away on the monitor. It was comforting now, in a way—a noise that let Auden know Grelle was still alive.

The air conditioning was its own little box on the wall by the ceiling and Auden had to drag a chair over to poke at the buttons on the panel until cold air started pouring out of the vent on the front. She stood on the chair in the airstream for a moment and closed her eyes. Her muscles hurt. Her joints hurt. The scrapes and cuts on her arms and legs hurt. She'd taken quite a beating herself, but alongside Grelle it was nothing. Sleeping in the recliner hadn't helped, though. As she stood on the chair, she tried to stretch, but everything was so tight she could hardly manage it without grimacing.

What was she supposed to do? Wait for Grelle to wake up? She certainly shouldn't wake her up just because she was bored. But she couldn't turn on the TV either. And she didn't have her phone or anything. She hadn't gone home since the attack. _Home_. It sounded so wonderful. She'd never take it for granted again.

Auden climbed down off the chair and went back to her recliner, folded all the blankets she'd been given and piled them up. She went to Grelle next and fixed her covers, pulling them back a bit so she could cool off. Aside from that there really wasn't much else to do but wait. There wasn't even anything on the walls she could count. Just pale greenish paint. She plopped down in the recliner and sighed, turned her head and looked over at Grelle. She should have looked better than she did, should have been healing faster, but she was still a wreck, her bruises just as bad as they were yesterday. Auden didn't want to think what it might look like under all the bandages.

A few lonely tears pooled up in her eyes and slid down her cheeks. She didn't bother to wipe them away. She understood that there wasn't anything she could have done for Grelle, that what she _had_ done had in the end saved both their lives, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt, and it didn't mean she wasn't wishing it had never happened.

Grelle stirred and Auden sat up, sniffing and wiping her face. Had to be strong, or at least look it. Grelle didn't need a sobby teen to take care of—because she would try if she saw Auden crying. That's just how she was.

Drawing in a deep breath, Grelle's eyes opened slowly, but with a lot less effort than when she had come out of the anesthesia. She glanced around the room and located Auden, managing a weak smile when she did.

Auden smiled back. "Good morning."

"Hi." Grelle coughed, trying to clear her throat, but failing and sounding scratchy when she asked, "What time is it?"

Auden made a face. "I have no idea, actually."

Grelle chuckled. "Very helpful."

Auden got up and started to go to the bed, but stopped for some reason and hovered midway between Grelle and the recliner. "Do you need anything?" she asked, wincing mentally at how strange the words sounded coming out of her mouth.

"Water. Am I allowed to drink?"

Auden shook her head. "I don't know. I can call a nurse?" Now with motivation, she headed over right up to the bedside and started reaching for the call button, but Grelle shook her head and shut her eyes.

"Not yet," she said on an outward breath. "Give me a minute."

Auden studied her while she took a moment and several deep breaths in and out. She didn't know what to do. She was useless when it came to caregiving. She was useless when it came to people in general. She'd always been rotten at relationships, even platonic ones. Never really learned how best to express her emotions. She always wound up bottling it all in and then sobbing explosively whenever something went wrong. It wasn't pretty. And Grelle and Sebastian had seen it plenty of times.

Eventually Grelle nodded. "Okay," she said, and Auden pushed the button.

They were quiet for a moment, Grelle for obvious reasons, and Auden because she wasn't quite sure what to say. Even in her exhausted state, Grelle beat her to it.

"Sit by me."

Auden nodded and climbed gingerly up onto the bed, trying as best she could not to shift Grelle with her added weight. Once she was settled, her legs dangling off the side, Grelle opened her eyes to find Auden's hand and secure it in her own before closing them again.

"Do you feel any better?" Auden asked.

"Not really," Grelle replied.

Auden frowned at her lap. "I'm sorry."

"Say that one more time and I'll cut your head off."

"S—"

She just managed to catch herself and Grelle laughed that strange injured laugh, giving her hand a little shake. It made Auden smile. That, and Grelle probably _would_ give her a good whack if she apologized again. She found something else to say.

"Sebastian went with William to find the demons. I don't know when they'll be back."

A knock sounded at the door, what a coincidence, it seemed, but a nurse poked his head in a few seconds later and came in, smiling the nurse smile.

"Hi there. How are we doing today?"

"Not much better," Auden replied. "Can we get some water?"

"Of course. You want ice?"

Auden looked at Grelle and Grelle shook her head, so Auden looked back at the nurse and he said, "Back in a jiff," and smiled again and went away. As he left Auden noticed a sheet of laminated paper on the wall that said Your Nurse Today Is: with Corey written in dry erase marker in the blue box underneath. She wondered when he had come in and changed that.

It only took him a second to come back with a big plastic mug like the kind you'd get at a theme park with an accordion straw and everything. He set it down on the bedside table.

"Here we are. Do you mind if I check your vitals?"

Grelle shook her head. "Check away."

Auden hopped off the bed to get out of Corey's way and he went about his business for a minute, being gentle but causing Grelle a lot of pain even so. Auden could see she was clenching her jaw, a flicker of contortion passing between her brows every so often. Corey finished and straightened up.

"Looks like you're hurting still. I can up the dosage on your pain killers if you want?"

"Yes, I want."

He laughed, said, "No worries," and leaned over to turn a little dial on one of the stands that held one of the bags attached to one of the tubes that went into the back of Grelle's hand. "You call me again if that's not enough. Anything else?"

Grelle shook her head, so he looked at Auden. "You want a water, too?" he asked.

She looked down, but nodded. Her mouth was still a desert.

"I'll be right back."

And he was, just as Auden was resituating herself on the bed next to Grelle. He handed over her own amusement-park-sized mug and grabbed the one for Grelle from the table and passed her that one as well.

"She's still very weak. She may need help."

Auden nodded and took both mugs from him. "Thank you," she said.

"No problem. You know how to call me."

Smiling—he liked to do that, apparently—he left them, and Auden set her own mug down between her legs before holding Grelle's out and bending the straw for her.

"Here," she said.

Grelle cracked open an eye, saw the straw, and chomped down on it, taking a long sip and swallowing before letting out a deep breath.

"Thanks," she said though it sounded like a whisper.

"You want more?"

Grelle took another sip in response and then nodded, so Auden set the mug down and picked up her own, taking a long draw through the straw and savoring the wonderful cold of water in her mouth.

"How are _you?_ Are you doing okay?" Grelle asked.

Auden nodded. Having been awake for a little while and now with water she was really beginning to feel all right. _Her_ injuries were healing. Unlike Grelle's.

"Yeah. I'm okay."

"Good. You can turn on the TV if you want. I think I'll sleep some more."

"Okay."

Auden hopped off the bed, still sipping at her water, and hunted down the remote control. By the time she'd found it, Grelle was already breathing deeply. Probably Auden should have made her drink more, but then again one of the baggies she was attached to was probably keeping her hydrated. Auden had no idea what she was doing.

Settling into the recliner, she pushed the power button on the remote. The TV clicked on and she turned down the volume and started flipping through the channels from daytime soap to daytime soap. She glanced over at Grelle for a moment, the slightest frown tugging at the corner of her mouth. Hopefully Sebastian would be back soon.


	6. Edible

"They are in there."

Sebastian gestured out across the Thames at an empty riverside dock house in particularly bad repair. Figured. Demons generally went one of two ways: luxurious living in finery or slumming it up in the seediest parts of town. It only made sense that demons dumb enough to take on a reaper to get a meal, particularly _his_ reaper, would be on the latter end of that spectrum.

The sun was just beginning to dip below the horizon, sending reds and oranges into the sky—it had been one of the nicest days in London all season, a pity he'd had to spend it on a hunt, Grelle and Auden in the hospital—and William held up his hand to signal the other Shinigami following close behind to stop. He stepped up next to Sebastian.

"You're certain?"

"Oh yes."

He could smell them, sense them—the beating of their hearts, the spirit-blood rushing through their veins. They were many, a numerous gathering. Foolish. It only made them easier to track. Had they split up it could have taken him weeks to track them all down, but they chose to remain together, magnifying their auras. He was grateful for their congregation. It would make his revenge so much simpler.

"How many?" William asked.

"I cannot tell. Perhaps a fifty, perhaps more."

The reapers at his back shifted, whispering. The sound of fifty demons in the same place was an intimidating thing, even for a team of twenty experienced reapers.

One of the ranks voiced the concern. "Can we take on that many?"

"They are young," Sebastian replied. "And inexperienced. They will not be organized. And you have me."

He looked back over his shoulder and smiled—a gesture which made the reapers either shrink back or freeze up. Few Shinigami were like Grelle or even William. Working collaboratively with a demon still frightened them. They would follow orders though, when they were given. He did not worry about their performance.

William tapped his glasses up with the tip of his Scythe. "Advance."

The group swept across the Thames, came swiftly to the side of the dock house and pressed their backs against the building beside the door. The smell and sensation grew stronger, beating in Sebastian's brain, making him hungry—hungry for blood. He would keep his promise. It would be easy.

"I'll allow you to act on your own," William said, glancing over at Sebastian. "Please assist us in any way you can."

Sebastian nodded. "If I may make a proposal?"

William narrowed his eyes.

"Allow me to go in first," he continued. "I can distract them while you formulate a more precise plan of attack."

"They won't sense us?"

"Their senses are dull. It _does_ require practice. If they had any sort of skill they would have sensed me miles away and moved their location."

William frowned at him for a moment, taking stock. Eventually he nodded—just one curt motion and Sebastian did the same. The reapers would wait outside.

Sebastian stepped off the wall, went to the sliding dock house door, and flung it open, a resounding crash echoing up into the air when it met the end of its track. Inside, in the gathering darkness, fifty-six pairs of demon eyes flicked toward him. They were perched on crates and in the rafters, at all sorts of dark works in their ramshackle gang house. So he hadn't been too far off in his estimate.

He stood in the doorway and shouted into the space, "Where is the demon who has slain the red reaper?"

The demons glanced around at each other, whispered as they did so. He looked at each of them, leaving the door open and the view inside clear for William and the others. It was rare for Shinigami to go on the offensive, but Sebastian was looking forward to the display. After a moment he stepped into the building. Several of the demons came down to meet him, hissing.

He regarded them blankly. "Well?"

A particularly dense and irritating looking individual emerged from the back, pushing through the small crowd that had gathered in front of Sebastian. Chewing on one end of a toothpick, the demon folded his arms, puffing out his chest and grinning.

"So that bitch actually died?"

Sebastian would tear the esophagus out of his throat.

He smiled. "It was you, then?"

"Yeah it was me. Took the little one's Scythe and cut her up real good."

The demons around them laughed darkly, looked at each other and licked their lips. He would sever their tongues in their mouths.

The lead demon made an aggressive nod toward Sebastian. "Who's asking?" he spat.

"Oh. I had thought by now one of you would have recognized me."

Sebastian dropped just a portion of his human appearance, dark shadows twisting out across the ground from his feet and slithering up the walls, dampening the light that came in through the windows. His eyes shone red in the blackness; the demon's own eyes grew wide with fear.

" _Asgaheth_ …"

It was almost an exclamation, and would have been had fear and shock not choked it down. Sebastian's lips curled up in a smile.

"It has been a long time since anyone called me that."

It was an ancient name. Hebrew. Not his true one, but of course only Sebastian knew that. Asgaheth was his second name, the name that had been used to awaken his eternal conscious and summon it from hell. So it was what demons called him.

The leader tried to escape—bolted for the door even as the rest of them scattered—but Sebastian shot out his hand and secured it around the demon's throat. He yanked him forward, right up into his face, drawing blood where his fingers met skin. The demon wriggled, terrified, choking.

"You should know that the red reaper is not dead. No. She is alive. She is alive and she is hurt because of you. And I will see you pay for that."

The demon clawed at Sebastian's hands, but was unable to change to his true form he was held so tight. He gasped when he spoke. "Why? What loyalty do you have to reapers?"

"None," Sebastian replied, "but two of them are precious to me and you, unfortunately, happened upon those two."

The rest of the demons met Shinigami as they tried to go out the door, climb through the windows on the roof. The Death Scythes made quick work of many of them before they turned to flee, but William had anticipated their move and had his team reorganized in seconds to deal with them. Sebastian would make this one suffer, then kill the rest.

"Consider yourself a message," he said, lifting the demon up by his throat. "Any being, demon or otherwise, who dares to interfere with the red reaper and her partner will answer to Asgaheth—I will write this with your blood."

The demon hissed and spat red on the ground. "Traitor."

Sebastian tilted his head and smiled. "Oh, naïve little demon. There are no such things as traitors among our kind. For there are no such things as allies."

He laughed then, the sound of it echoing darkly throughout the dock house, and let his true form fall. Smoking shadow engulfed them all. The chorus of screams was the most satisfying sound he'd heard in ages.


	7. Ebb

The sound of the door clicking open was enough on its own to wake Grelle up she'd been sleeping for so long, but she kept her eyes closed. Gods she felt like death. Well, she _was_ death, but she really did feel miserable—like she'd been hit by a bus, or practically dismembered by a demon with a Death Scythe.

She heard Auden sit up in her recliner in a hurry, excited by whomever had come through the door. Probably it was Sebastian.

"You're back."

It was.

Grelle cracked open her eyes just slightly, so that they would look like they were still closed and tried to mimic a sleep breathing pattern. She wanted to watch this exchange.

Sebastian took off his coat, hung it on the back of the door as he closed it softly, trying to be quiet. Good. At least she looked somewhat convincing. Auden struggled out of the recliner since she didn't put the little foot bar down or sit it up, and went right over to him. She looked up and he put his hands on her shoulders.

"Did you get him?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"I made a promise, didn't I?"

Grelle saw the tension flood out of Auden's body and tears sprang in that same moment to her eyes. "Thank you," she said, though it came out as a sob.

"Hey," Sebastian said, smiling down at her and wiping her cheeks with gentle fingers, "no more tears. All right?"

Sniffing a little hiccup sniffle, Auden nodded, but her bottom lip pouted out and trembled and she couldn't help but cry a little more though they were tears of relief. Sebastian held her in his arms, cradling her head against his chest. They were never affectionate with each other when Grelle was awake or around, which was ridiculous since she would have been the last person to be offended by it and the first to think it was adorable, but regardless of the fact, she knew they were close. And seeing evidence first hand was just as precious as she'd imagined.

She'd created rather a conundrum for herself in the process though. She had absolutely no idea how to fake waking up. She couldn't just pop her eyes open, and she didn't want to make a big show. What had it been like when she'd woken up before? She still felt like hell, so probably it had been labored, but she couldn't really pinpoint anything about it. Did anybody know what it looked like to wake up? Probably she should wait until the pair of them had stopped hugging to save Auden any unnecessary embarrassment.

"How have things been here?" Sebastian asked, letting her go.

Auden went into the bathroom and came back wiping her nose with toilet paper as she said, "She's been sleeping a lot. Like all day." She frowned a little concerned frown.

Sebastian put his hand atop her head, stroked her hair. "It takes a lot of energy to recover. Her body needs to sleep so she can heal. We don't need to be worried about it yet."

Yet? Since when was sleep a bad thing? And speaking of… Grelle fluttered her eyelids open as realistically as she could manage. Sebastian noticed the movement the second it started and came directly to her side, ever the faithful companion. He took her hand in his and lifted it.

"I have shorn their necks from their miserable bodies, gutted the them from tip to toe, and sent their souls back to the venomous pit from whence they crawled—for you, my love."

He kissed her knuckles and then, turning her hand over, reached into his pocket and pulled from it a pair of teeth. Fangs. Demon fangs. Probably those belonging to the one who had put all these pretty holes in her. He dropped them into her hand.

"Well good morning to you, too." She blinked at the set of teeth. "Did they suffer?"

"Greatly."

A smile crossed her mouth and she leaned her head back on her pillow to look at him, laughing a little. "You know just what to say to a girl."

Smiling, he leaned over her and touched his lips to hers. All of his tension was gone now, she could feel it. Sometimes she forgot he was a demon, forgot that that came with certain needs. Not that she didn't understand, just that she felt a little sorry for not providing for him sooner than now—and without getting herself practically chopped into pieces. She made up for it by kissing him back, just the way he liked.

He smiled at her when he pulled away, brushed her hair back with gentle fingers—fingers which had only just lately dug into demons' flesh and probably ripped their hearts from their chests—and kissed her forehead. She returned the smile and looked down at the teeth in her hand. It was a lovely gesture—a bit dark, and a bit gory, but that was Sebastian for you. She couldn't say she didn't find it at least a little bit hot.

"I think these will make a nice pair of earrings, don't you, Auden?" Grelle held one of the fangs up to her ear and looked Auden's way to send a smile.

Auden stared back at her like she'd turned into a giant toad and grown nine thousand eyeballs, but Auden looked at her like that all the time so the expression only made Grelle laugh.

Sebastian stroked her cheek to get her attention, so she looked his way and he said with a frown, "You don't look much better, my love."

"I don't _feel_ much better."

"Death Scythe wounds are merciless."

She grinned at him. "You would know."

That made him chuckle, but not less concerned. "Still, you ought to be healing faster."

She shrugged. "There's a lot to cover."

As if in response, he picked over her, that momma hen frown about his mouth, straightening tubes and arranging her hair and adjusting her blankets and putting her gift teeth back in his pocket and every little thing he could think of. She let him. It was in his nature to be meticulously nurturing as contrary as it seemed for a demon. Even after all that he still met her eyes and said,

"What can I do?"

She smiled at him. "Hand me my water and give me a kiss?"

Laughing a little, he obeyed, turning to retrieve her mug from the bedside table and place it in her hands before leaning over and pressing his mouth fervently to hers.

As he pulled back she looked at him, and he paused and looked back, and after a moment, gave her another kiss. Several, in fact. All of them good ones. When he did move away she took a drink from her water and smiled.

"Thank you, love," she said.

He took her hand. "I'm just happy you're still here."

She laughed. "Me too."

* * *

Even as he smiled at her and she laughed, Sebastian noticed a flicker of pain shift through Grelle's features. She tried to hide it, and nearly succeeded, but it returned, and the second time she could not disguise the contortion of her face. Sebastian frowned.

"Grelle?"

" _Ah._ "

She sucked in a breath. Her hand twitched in his and clutched tighter. She writhed once, ever so slightly, turning on her hip.

"What is it, my love?"

Grelle couldn't answer. Her teeth clenched shut, the line of her jawbone clearly visible under the skin of her cheek. When the tension did release, it was to let out a sharp cry and take in a gasp of air. Her nails dug into his hand. Sebastian glanced over at Auden, and she was standing up, all the color gone out of her, staring at Grelle and trembling.

"Get help," he said, and pushed the button on the side of the bed as Auden bolted from the room. He looked at Grelle. "Grelle. Grelle, my love, what is it? What's going on?"

A scream shot out of her and she sat bolt upright, but was too weak to make it fully and so collapsed midway through the motion. Sebastian tried to pull her forward, to help her sit up like she seemed to want to do, but she began to shake so fiercely he didn't dare exert much force. Her fingernails drew blood from his skin. What was this? What was happening? Grelle became tangled in the wires and tubes all around her. Sebastian just stared, helpless. A moment ago Grelle had been fine. The heart monitor beeped wildly.

Auden burst back into the room, trailing a doctor and a team of nurses in her wake. The doctor took one look at Grelle and cursed, snapping at his team. They crowded the bed and shoved Sebastian out—or they would have if they had been able to prize his hand from Grelle's grasp. As it was he fought his way back in to their huddle as they crowded around her and worked feverishly.

"You know what this is?" Sebastian demanded of the doctor, breaking his eyes from Grelle for but a moment sufficient enough to give the man a solid glare.

"We were afraid this might happen. Corey, double that." He pointed and one of the nurses put his hands on one of the bags of liquid attached to Grelle.

That was no explanation. "And?"

"Her body took too much damage and hasn't healed. Her soul is rejecting it. It's trying to escape."

Grelle screamed like that was exactly what was going on. Tears streaked down her face which was turning colors under all the bruises as she struggled for air through the pain.

Sebastian's head began to swim. "Can you stop it?"

"We're trying."

They worked so swiftly doing so many things, that even if he had been paying attention to them, Sebastian would have missed most of what was going on. But he wasn't paying attention. His eyes were locked on Grelle. She shook. She was blue. She screamed.

"Do something!" Sebastian shouted.

A nurse stepped over to remove him. "Mr. Michaelis…"

Grelle's cries ceased at once. Her eyes rolled back in her head. She fell limp against the hospital bed and the monitor let out one long beep.

"Corey, get her body on life-support. Meg, Scythe scalpel, _now_."

The nurses tried to pull Sebastian out of the way but he would not be moved. Corey was forced to work around him. Meg passed the doctor a shining silver knife. Corey began attaching new tubes and wires to Grelle and another machine. The doctor made one small incision just below Grelle's collarbone above her heart and inserted something and instantly her Cinematic Record appeared, but flowed into a tube attached to whatever he had inserted. He and Meg switched tasks to helping Corey.

Sebastian stared at Grelle, at the complete absence of expression in her face, at the coldness and the loss of color in spite of all the color of her bruises. The team shocked her, hurt her, but started her heart. It didn't change anything. She stayed under.

All the same the doctor let out a sigh of relief. He said something to Sebastian. Sebastian didn't listen.

They disappeared and left him there, clutching Grelle's lifeless hand, the bright luminance of her soul siphoning out through a clear plastic tube into the clear plastic bag they'd hung above her head. Sebastian felt… He didn't feel. Hollowness stung at his eyes. Tears would not surface. An arid and icy wind blew across his heart. Agony echoed in the emptiness.

His knees met the ground with a crack. That wind raged, conjuring up a harrowing howl. Her hand was cold in his. _He_ was making that sound, not the wind. That was him. Grelle was…gone.

A small hand touched his shoulder—a cold hand, a little reaper's hand. He turned his face and there was Auden, eye-to-eye, looking down at him, tears filling those eyes and falling all over her face. She put her arms around him and started to sob. He'd forgotten she was there.

* * *

Auden had never seen Sebastian express emotion of any kind like that. He was always so calm and collected. That cry of absolute anguish had torn her already broken heart to shreds. She held onto him as he knelt on the floor beside the bed, and she cried. He needed her. They needed each other. What would happen to them if Grelle never woke up? What would they do? Auden couldn't think about it.

"Sh-she won't leave us, Sebastian," she whispered fiercely. "She w-won't."

Sebastian did not reply. Auden clutched her arms tighter around his neck anyway. He didn't even move. When Auden opened her eyes, the room was engulfed in shadows. She started. Where had those come from? She pulled back. They were coming from Sebastian. His eyes were open but they were blank. And glowing. Two points of empty purple-red light. She shivered.

"Sebastian?"

"I wish I had not killed those demons in such haste," he said, his gaze unfocused beyond her toward the wall. "I would summon them from the very pits of hell and make the rest of their lives an eternal agony."

Auden shifted back. There was so much _venom_ in his words. Behind his eyes, those demons were suffering again in his mind. For a few moments he relished in it, but the images faded and a quiet cry slipped out of his lips. His eyes squeezed shut.

" _Grelle_."

He pawed at her hand, struggled to his feet.

"Grelle, please. Come back. Don't leave me here. Please."

He gripped her arm in his hand, staring down into her face and searching, pleading. Tears began to fall from his eyes.

"Don't leave me, don't leave me, don't leave me…"

He cried out over and over again and in his grief, gripped Grelle by the shoulders and started to shake her as if to wake her up.

"Sebastian! Stop it!"

Auden tried to pry him off with all her strength, and she nearly had him when he shot back of his own accord and flew to the plastic bag Grelle's soul was draining into. He stared at it, raised a hand. Gently, his fingers pressed into the side. The glow of her soul illuminated the wet streaks down his face.

"Oh, my love. How could they do this to you?"

Auden couldn't look at him anymore. She couldn't stand the pain in his eyes. She stood where she was and stared at the floor though it was warped by her tears. She wiped her nose, clenched her fists. Grelle couldn't die. Not now. Not after she'd been okay. Not after Auden had thought she didn't have to worry. It wasn't fair.

Suddenly she was wishing she'd gone with Sebastian to kill the demons. Wishing she had a little bit of their blood on her hands. Wishing she could have paid them back for what they'd done to Grelle. To her. To Sebastian. She dug her nails into her palms. The world never had been, and never would be, fair.

Sebastian drifted away from the bag that held Grelle's soul—a strange glowing soup of film strips—and took up her hand in his own. He pressed it to his chest, fell to his knees, and just held onto her, sobbing quietly.

It made Auden start all over again.


	8. Elegy

Several hours passed and then there was a knock on the door. Puffy-eyed, Auden had curled up next to Sebastian, who was still kneeling on the floor at Grelle's bedside, and counted Grelle's heartbeats, praying between every pause that there would be another. She looked up at the sound of the hinges swinging open, at Ronald who was poking his head around the door.

"I just heard," he said, his voice and expression colored with sorrow and concern. "I came as soon as I could. How is she?"

Tears welled in Auden's eyes. Her throat closed up and she couldn't answer him, but Ronald only needed to look at Grelle in the hospital bed to figure it out. His face fell. Coming into the room the rest of the way, he shut the door and walked over to the bed, leaned against the end of it, sort of sitting.

"Do they know what happened?"

She glanced up and Ronald was looking at her.

Auden shook her head. "I don't think so. Not really. The doctor said her body took too much damage, and—" She couldn't talk about it. How was she supposed to talk about it? If it was possible, her throat closed tighter, a couple of tears spilling over.

Ronald looked away, whether to give her privacy or keep from getting emotional himself, Auden wasn't sure, but she wiped her eyes, and her nose when it started to drip. None of it quite felt real while at the same time feeling very real indeed. Like a nightmare. And she'd was an expert on those.

"She'll pull through. She's strong," Ronald said.

Maybe Auden would have been saying the same thing if she hadn't been talking to Grelle only hours ago. If she hadn't been all right and then suddenly not all right. If she hadn't had to deal with worrying about losing her not once but _twice_ in the same forty-eight hours. Maybe Auden would have had a little more faith in the world, in Grelle, if she wasn't so goddamn angry at both of them.

As it was, she didn't say anything. She just pressed her back against Sebastian who hadn't moved in hours. He seemed to be somewhere else.

"This hasn't ever happened before," Ronald said. "Nobody's really sure what to do."

Auden didn't know if he meant the doctors or the Management Division. She and Grelle had missed their remaining soul collections, so there was no doubt that had put a kink in the reapers' tubes. The idea made her bitter, made her lips curl tight up against her teeth. Here was Grelle, alive by machine, her soul _hanging in a bag_ next to her body, and they were worried about bothering a couple off-duty Shinigami to pick up the slack.

"I hate to be the one who has to tell you, Auden, but Management wants you back in the field by tomorrow."

Auden felt the blood drain from her face. Back? Back in the _field?_ She—she couldn't. Not with Grelle like this, not with _Sebastian_ like this. She looked at the demon in question. He hadn't made a sound _at all_. He barely even breathed. How could they expect her to work when things were like this?

"But…" She couldn't come up with any viable excuse. She knew how reapers worked. She _was_ one. In all likelihood she probably should have been grateful she was getting a day to recover at all.

"I asked William if I could be your temporary partner, and he's agreed so…" Ronald shrugged an empty shrug.

It was a small consolation and he seemed to sense that, but Auden was grateful all the same. If she had to be back out there, being with Ronald—who cared and worried about Grelle like she did, who understood—would be good.

"Thank you," she said.

"My pleasure, I…" He cut himself off, looked down at his lap and huffed a short, bitter laugh. "I just wish it didn't have to be like this at all."

Auden nodded, her bottom lip trembling again. "Me either."

Ronald got up, tucking his hands into his pockets. "Hey, you want something to eat? I'll go grab it. Hospital food is bollocks."

The question made Auden suddenly aware of an acute pain in her empty stomach. She hadn't had anything to eat since she'd left the house the other night with…Grelle.

"Yes, please," she replied, fighting tears again.

"Cheers. I'll be back…"

Once Ronald was gone, Auden looked at Sebastian. He was glassy-eyed and perfectly still, one of his hands tightly secured around Grelle's. Auden wondered if he was hungry. Demons must have gotten hungry, but she didn't think there was anything she could do if he was. Nobody had ever bothered to explain to her the deal Sebastian had with the Shinigami, or maybe it was that she just didn't have high enough clearance to be granted the knowledge in the first place. Either way, it was unlikely anything _she_ could say would sway the higher-ups one way or another.

For a moment the only sound between them was the _beep…beep…beep_ of the heart monitor and the quiet whirring of machines.

"Sebastian…"

His eyes shifted, but he did not look her way.

"I'm sorry," Auden whispered.

He didn't answer.

* * *

Auden must have thought him angry with her. Sebastian wasn't certain that he cared. Let her think what she pleased. If she wanted to blame herself and wallow in her self-destructive thoughts, let her. He _was_ angry. Not at Auden particularly, he was logical enough to understand that she had done all she could, that she was small and weak and frightened and inexperienced and had made the right decision, but that didn't stop the torrent of rage turning and turning and turning in his heart.

But even that was small compared to the vast emptiness that filled the rest of him.

From time to time he had thought about what it might be like to lose Grelle, about what he would do if she was no longer there, and all that he had been able to see was a great, gaping black void. He was staring into that void head-on now.

Ronald came back with a sandwich from the Pret down the street for Auden and made her come outside to eat it and get fresh air. Sebastian felt him glance his direction, but Ronald knew better than to say anything, so he followed Auden out and left Sebastian alone.

Truly and utterly alone.

He looked down at Grelle's hand in his own. It was all the wrong color, battered and bruised with blue veins showing through strained and wounded. On her middle finger was the ring he'd given her in the 1970s, a swirling sliver setting with a small oval of clear quartz filled with color-changing liquid crystals. A mood ring. They'd laughed at the time about how the stone always showed black against Grelle's cold skin.

It was black now, too, the setting crusted with dry blood, a deep red. The nurses must have removed it for surgery and forgotten to wipe it down before replacing it on Grelle's hand. Sebastian rose. He stepped into the bathroom and wetted a paper towel under the faucet, returned and slipped the ring from Grelle's finger with a most delicate touch. He polished the silver, making sure to clean every crevice, and by the time he'd finished the stone had shifted at his warm touch from black to amber to green to violet. A color intended to indicate a happy, romantic mood. How far he was from that.

Returning the ring to Grelle's finger, he watched the stone change to back black.

* * *

A month went by. Grelle did not wake up. Auden went out on soul collection with Ronald as her partner and Sebastian took up permanent residence in the hospital. He closed the gallery, suspended everything, hired a housekeeper to care for Nine Charles Street and cook for Auden because he wasn't there. He wouldn't leave Grelle's side.

It only made waiting all the more agonizing.

Her body healed, but when they tried to take her off the machines her heart wouldn't beat on its own, her lungs wouldn't breathe on their own. They'd had to double and then triple bag her soul to keep it from escaping. It pulsed red, its aura confused, and every day Sebastian had to watch it wonder why it was still there. Wonder where it should have been.

He curled up around Grelle and kept her warm. Pressed kisses to the backs of her hands and her forehead and her mouth. Talked to her.

"It's raining today, my love."

"Auden has made good progress in her work."

"I miss you."

The one time he allowed himself to leave her it was to travel up to Yorkshire, to Felixkirk and Sutton Bank on the Moors to dig up and pot a small heather plant to bring back for her. It sat in a white ceramic dish by her bedside and he watered it every day.

Ronald always brought her roses. He and Auden came in with a fresh bouquet one afternoon once their shift had ended.

"Any change?" he asked.

Sebastian shook his head. "As ever, no."

Nodding, Ronald pulled up a seat and sat down. Auden wandered over to her recliner and stretched a little before she sat down, curling up into a ball on the chair. Sebastian looked at her and she held his eye. He had been distant with her, and he was sorry for that, but he did not know how to express what he felt. He hadn't felt anything except anger and sadness and emptiness and pity for himself in weeks. Something in her eye seemed to indicate that she understood.

"Has William been through?" Ronald asked.

"Not yet today," Sebastian replied.

The reaper had come by like clockwork every day since Grelle had gone under. Checking to see when the most useless member of the Retrieval Division was going to be able to return to work, he claimed.

"He's supposed to be meeting with some of the higher ups today," Ronald continued. "I wondered if he had any news."

"If he does I will be sure to inform you."

Ronald nodded. "Thanks."

"Of course."

It still baffled Sebastian that others seemed to care about Grelle, though he doubted any of them felt the way that he did. Auden, perhaps, was the only exception, though Grelle served a different purpose in her life than in his. She had spent only a year with her, nothing compared to the one hundred and twenty-five he had. It made him ache to think that their hundred and twenty-sixth might come and go while she was like this.

"Keep me posted if there's any change," Ronald said, rising.

"We will." Sebastian glanced back at him just long enough to make eye contact. "Thank you," he said, and, nodding, Ronald left the room.

Silence and the sound of machines. Sebastian looked to Auden and she was still curled up on the recliner, watching Grelle.

"You are well?" he asked.

Her eyes flicked over to him and he was startled for a moment at the depth of knowledge that shown out of them. Bright and green-yellow through the blue of her glasses and the black of her hair. She'd had to do a lot of growing up in the last month. As if she hadn't had to do that too many times in her life already.

"I don't mean to be so cold to you, Auden," he said, looking away, suddenly feeling quite guilty, "and I… I am sorry for that." He shook his head. "Grelle has taken all my passion with her, it seems."

"I know how much you love her."

His heart twisted at the words.

"I don't… I don't blame you, Sebastian. I can't imagine how you must feel. I—I only know how I feel, and I feel like hell and—" She cut herself off with a heated breath. "You don't have to be sorry for feeling the way that you do. You taught me that."

He studied her a moment and in that moment Auden got up from the recliner to take off her shoes and jacket and hang them by the door. On her way back, Sebastian intercepted her and wrapped her up tight in a hug. A little jolt when through Auden, but it was replaced by relief and she hugged him back. How grateful he was for this strange little creature, how happy she had come into his life. He had not fully realized until then how much she had grown.

"I'm very wise, aren't I?" he said, smoothing her hair.

Laughing and wiping a few tears, Auden shoved him playfully away. "Don't get cocky," she replied.

He smiled and released her and she went back to her post on the recliner. At least, if Grelle left him, she had given him Auden. He would not have to face eternity entirely alone.


	9. Easter

William didn't have any news from his meeting with the so-called "higher ups". Shinigami were not given to rash decisions—Grelle excluded—and because the state of her condition was still largely unknown, not a one of them _wanted_ to make a decision. It was so incredibly vexing it made Sebastian want to tear a few throats out.

The only exceptions were Ronald as well as the team of doctors and scientists who came by every Tuesday and Wednesday at four to study Grelle. They would examine her soul, draw blood from her veins, check her vitals, bring new bags with new solutions inside them, hook them up and keep track of the changes, but every time they turned off the machines, they turned off Grelle as well. Her soul would flicker, then. Frightened and confused.

"We're doing our best," the doctor would apologize.

"I know," Sebastian would reply.

There was talk about moving Grelle home to Charles Street, and it took mountains of meticulous paperwork filled out by Auden to make it a reality. They transported all her machines, assigned round-the-clock nurses and doctors to check in by the hour, all in the hopes that perhaps being at home would encourage Grelle's soul. But it was all in vain. Nothing could bring her out of her death-like sleep.

Sebastian was beginning to worry that she might never open her eyes again.

* * *

Easter came round the following Sunday. Sebastian obviously wasn't one for going to church and neither was Auden, but the holiday still felt sacred somehow. Solemn. Perhaps it was the Shinigami in the upstairs bedroom teetering between life and death.

Auden was filling mugs with warm water, dropping little colored tablets in after and swirling them around. On the stove, a pot of eggs was boiling.

"What does any of this have to do with Jesus?" she asked, one of the tablets getting stuck to her fingers because they were already wet, dyeing their tips a dark pink.

"These are remnants of the pagan springtime and fertility celebrations whose dates roughly coincided with the commemoration of the resurrection," Sebastian replied.

Auden eyed him, rinsing her fingers off in the sink. "Were you alive then?" she asked after a moment's hesitation.

Sebastian smiled. "Yes, but not in Israel."

Another hesitation. "Where?"

"I had a contract with a woman in Rome."

Auden nodded, her eyebrows drawn together in thought, puzzling over his age. It might have seemed strange to Sebastian to have been alive so long, but it was all he knew and so it was ordinary. To have seen so many different men and kings come into power and then fade into little more than a few paragraphs' entry in a history book. To arbitrarily celebrate whatever holiday was fashionable for the time. Once it had been Saturnalia. Now it was Easter. He didn't know why he bothered.

The house was beautifully and expertly decorated over with pastels and rabbits and ribbons. Chicks and eggs and fresh flowers. Mostly for Grelle, who wasn't even conscious of it, but in part for Auden as well. She'd helped him put it all up and remarked as she had arranged an antique set of Fabergé eggs on the mantel over the fireplace that she'd never decorated for a holiday until she'd started living with them. Not even Christmas.

It made Sebastian ache to think of Christmases with Grelle. She'd wear green the whole month round to match her hair, buy whatever peppermint-scented perfume was new for the season, stir endless amounts of corn syrup, sugar, and egg whites together to make batch after batch of divinity. She loved Christmas, and had _always_ loved Christmas, and _he_ loved _her_ at Christmas. The way the colored lights lit up her eyes, the way she looked wrapped up in a sweater and scarf and mittens, kissing her lips and the cold tip of her nose in the snow. She was magic at Christmastime, all gold and scarlet and deep green. He almost looked forward to the winter as much as she did.

Easter was her next favorite holiday. Once, in the forties, she'd convinced him to buy about a dozen chicks, and she'd been too attached to part with them once they were grown so they'd raised them and had chickens galore for the next twenty years when one of the chicks had turned out to be a rooster.

"I think the eggs are done," Auden said softly.

Her voice brought Sebastian back and suddenly the beeping of the kitchen timer was more than apparent. He smiled, or tried to, and reached to turn it and the stove off.

"I want to dye one for Grelle," Auden said, watching as he scooped the eggs out of the pot and dried them off.

"Of course," he replied.

"Do you think this red is dark enough?"

She held up a mug and he came over to inspect it.

"You might want to add some food coloring. Otherwise it will come out pink."

Auden nodded and went to work while Sebastian brought the eggs over to the counter. He wasn't particularly invested in this activity, in fact the whole thing seemed kind of pointless to him and brought back a lot of unwelcome memories from Easters at the Phantomhive manor years ago, but Grelle would have wanted him to maintain a sense of normalcy for Auden, so he was doing his best.

She got out a roll of tape and cut it into tiny strips, arranging them carefully on the surface of the egg. He set a few of his own into the mugs of dye.

"It's a chainsaw," Auden said, showing him the tape outline once she was finished.

"She'll love it," Sebastian smiled.

They ate lunch—ham and potatoes and asparagus and rolls and all those things people have for Easter—upstairs with Grelle and went down to Hyde Park that afternoon to watch the children's egg hunt, the grand prize for which was a live bunny and they laughed at the look on the winning child's parent's face, none too pleased to have a pet. Home again, Auden finally removed her egg from the dye, dried it and peeled the tape off, a white chainsaw showing bright on the red egg. She carried it with great care upstairs and set it up on a stand Sebastian fashioned out of a wire coat hanger on the bedside table. He cut into a carrot cake and passed Auden a slice as she sat down on her chair next to Grelle's bed.

"She would have liked the egg hunt," Auden said, looking at Grelle.

"She probably would have joined in," Sebastian replied.

That made Auden smile. "Then we'd be the ones who'd have to take care of that bunny."

As they ate, the nurse for the hour arrived, was offered a slice of cake and sat down to join them. Sebastian seemed to recall that his name was Corey. He'd been the one constant in the steady stream of nurses that came to the house or had cared for Grelle in the hospital. He was still there, making marks on a clipboard next to Grelle's bed when Ronald arrived.

"Happy Easter," Ronald said as he showed himself into the room.

"Happy Easter," Auden and Corey returned. Sebastian said nothing, but did hold out a slice of cake for him as well.

Sebastian was quiet for the rest of the evening, as Corey finished up his work, informed them when the next nurse would be by, and Auden and Ronald settled into talking about work and whatever it was the two of them ever had to say to each other. Sebastian wasn't listening. He was looking at Grelle.

There was such a profound stillness in her face. Like marble or stone. Her chest barely rose and fell with each breath that was forced into her lungs and then pumped out of them. As ever, the glow of her soul cast a strange light on her features, into the room around her. She was neither alive nor dead. Just suspended. He wondered if she was conscious at all of the passage of time or if it was all blackness, or perhaps she was dreaming, and would wake up hundreds of years from now, the briers all grown thick around her castle keep.

It was dark out when Auden's hand on his shoulder roused him from his musings. Grelle's soul cast that strange light onto Auden's face as well now.

"We're headed down to Dispatch for our shift," she said.

Sebastian glanced at Ronald, just a shadow in the doorway.

"Very well," he responded.

"I'll see you when I get home."

He nodded and she softly closed the door behind her.

"Happy Easter," he whispered.


	10. Embark

"I think some conclusions may have been drawn."

Auden very nearly dropped the stack of soul registers William had just handed her when he said that. The files tumbled forward and she took a few hurried steps to catch them, her heartbeat pounding in her ears. Had she heard him right?

"About _Grelle?_ " she asked. The files thumped back against her chest. She glanced at Ronald and he looked just as surprised as she was.

William offered a curt nod. "Indeed."

Auden just stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate, explain, give more information, _something_ , but he didn't. The three of them stood there in the middle of the hallway at Dispatch, phones ringing, keyboards clicking, the sounds of printers and papers, and William just looked at them both, one of his eyebrows half-cocked like he hadn't the slightest idea why Auden and Ronald hadn't left yet.

"Wh-what conclusions have been drawn?" Auden prompted, her arms starting to shake under the weight of the files and the news.

"I'm not at liberty to say."

"Then what the hell did you say it for, boss?" Ronald laughed, though it was short and exasperated.

William's eyes flicked over to him. "The two of you have a collection coming due in approximately fifteen minutes. I _suggest_ —" He gave them both a look that said it was not a suggestion at all. "—you get there on time. I'm not in the mood for extra paperwork today."

"Your soul is _made_ of paperwork," Ronald grumbled, but caved and swung his lawnmower up onto his shoulder as he walked away. Auden had no choice but to follow.

"Did he really mean what he said?" she asked.

Ronald held his hand out for the file of the first soul they were supposed to collect so he could check the address. "Haven't the foggiest. Will's typically not in the habit of saying things he doesn't mean, though."

She passed him the file. "I know, but, if that's all he could say, why say anything?"

Flipping over the pages, Ronald didn't answer. "You ever heard of Balmore Street?"

"It's by the Whittington Hospital," Auden replied. "What do you think the news is?"

"About Grelle?"

Auden nodded. Ronald looked at her.

"Don't get your hopes up too high, kiddo."

Her gaze turned to her feet and she started walking when Ronald headed off. How could she _not_ get her hopes up? They hadn't had any news for _weeks_. This was the first time she had ever heard William mention Grelle at work outside of complaining under his breath about how her absence was putting a strain on the rest of the division, but now there was news. There was _news._ Auden wasn't sure she'd really care if it was bad because then at least they could all get out of this hellish limbo they were living in. Even if Grelle was never going to wake up again at least they'd know and could _stop_ hoping.

She and Ronald found their way to Balmore Street easy enough. Their collection was pretty obvious, too. A gentleman in cardiac arrest being hurriedly carried by three other men who were shouting, trying to get to Whittington before the worst could happen, but Auden and Ronald _were_ the worst that could happen. They jogged over to catch the men up and trail along beside them until the appointed time.

"I just think it's strange for him to comment on it, that's all," Auden was saying as they fell into step with the humans.

"William is about a million mysteries rolled into one obnoxious package. I wouldn't read too much into it," Ronald replied.

"Don't you think it's strange, though?"

" _Bleedin' 'ell…_ "

Ronald looked down at the collection, who had spoken. "Hiya," he said. "Here for your soul."

The man might have responded, but a wave of pain rolled over him and he gasped instead. His mates set him down and started CPR, which they probably should have done fifteen minutes ago, and he stared at Auden and Ronald until his eyes closed and his heart stopped.

Ronald looked to her. "Auden?"

Nodding, Auden lifted her hoe carefully around the other men and placed it against their collection's chest, then pressed. His life flashed before her eyes—birth, childhood, teenage years, university, marriage, career, divorce, death. He was pretty young, only forty-six. Auden always shivered when her own face would appear at the end of every record. It was weird to see yourself in someone else's memories.

"Anything to note?"

She shook her head. "No. Just stamp it complete."

The rest of their shift passed quickly in much the same way. Auden had to look at her own face twenty-six more times after that for her half of the collections. Ronald's too. She wondered if he was unsettled by seeing himself from the outside like she was or if reapers got used to it eventually. Probably the latter. At the end of their shift, after they'd parted ways, William was waiting for Auden in the hall.

"The Board has decided to brief you on the situation," he said.

Auden's blood went cold. Her jaw locked.

"If you'll follow me?"

William gestured with a smooth hand down the hallway and as soon as Auden nodded, swallowing, he started off. Auden had never met with the Board. She didn't even know how many people were on it, and the path William took her on down into the depths of Dispatch was one she hadn't ever travelled. After a good five minutes, she and William arrived at an enormous oak door at the end of an equally enormous hall.

"They're waiting for you," he said.

She just looked at him.

"You can find your way back out?"

"I think so."

"Very well."

William swept away then, the clicking heels of his shoes echoing loudly through the hall. He was a good thirty feet gone before Auden summoned enough resolve to reach for the handle on the door, turn it, and step inside.

The room was dark. So dark, that Auden could not even see the ceiling, though she got the feeling it was far above her. Just ahead lay a table, a single chair tucked under the side closest to the door, beyond that was an enormous wood panel. It was intricate and detailed, illuminated slightly by the light from a lamp on the table—the only light in the room. The wood panel curved around the room and looked to Auden like an oversized judge's bench. She felt eyes on her the moment she stepped through the door.

"Auden Lord."

The voice that spoke reverberated through the space, soft and loud at the same time. She could only nod in response.

"Be seated."

Stepping forward, Auden pulled the chair out and sat as instructed. She looked up, searching for the ceiling, searching for the eyes that she could sense pointed down at her from up on top of that bench, but she could see nothing. Only the slightest reflection of light off of glasses, but she wasn't certain she could see even that.

"The reaper Grelle Sutcliff is your partner."

It almost sounded like more than one person had spoken, voices moving in perfect unison. Auden was distracted in puzzling over it for a moment that she forgot to respond and they spoke again, a little harsher this time.

"The _reaper_ Grelle _Sutcliff_ is your _partner_."

She started. "Y-yes. Yes, she is."

"You also share a residence with her. And the demon."

"Yes."

"You know, then, how carefully she has been monitored and the nature of her condition. You were there when she received the wounds. You were there when her soul abandoned her body."

Those weren't questions, they were statements of fact. They made Auden's throat cinch up and tears begin to form in her eyes. She'd had nightmares about it ever since it had happened, just like she'd had nightmares about Nick and about her suicide, but she hadn't told Sebastian. She hadn't told anyone. She didn't want to be a burden.

"It was your Scythe, in the hands of a demon, that did the deed."

"Yes," she said through her teeth.

"The analysis of the research is complete."

Auden looked up. There wasn't anything to see. No faces. Just darkness.

"When a body dies, it surrenders its soul. Reapers collect these souls, process them, and transport them back here for secure transfer to the next stages. As part of processing, a reaper reviews the soul's Cinematic Record and may, if special circumstances warrant, allow that soul to be reunited with its body and the human being to continue its life."

Auden knew all that. Her hands bunched into fists and she only just bit back the comment that everything that had just been said was common knowledge.

"A reaper's soul, however, is different."

She looked up again at the darkness.

"When a human being becomes a grim reaper, they forfeit the right to die an ordinary death as they have already chosen one for themselves. Their soul composition is changed and they are given an immortal body in order to carry out work as a penance for taking their death into their own hands."

She couldn't keep it back this time, but she did manage to keep it a whisper. "I _know_."

There was a pause like they were waiting out any other interruptions. Auden stayed silent.

"Reapers _can_ be killed. However, should the soul of a reaper exit its body, no decision made by another reaper can grant it permission to be reunited with that body. Permission must be given by a greater authority."

What the hell did that mean? Some other kind of supernatural being? A reaper for reapers? "What greater authority is there for Shinigami?" she asked.

"On High."

Auden swallowed.

On High.

God.

Or Gods.

Grelle had never answered Auden's questions about God. She called the entity On High just like every other Shinigami. They all followed its orders, even Auden. Of course there was a power greater than them. Auden had known this, but she had forgotten.

"Then Grelle can come back?"

"It requires a special review from On High."

"But she can _come back?_ "

"As it is understood, yes."

Auden's heart thrilled. The tips of her fingers went numb and her limbs tingled and her stomach twisted itself into a knot.

"Her body is healed and her soul is contained, all she requires is permission."

"Well—then—why hasn't she been given permission?" Auden started to rise from her chair. Grelle's body couldn't live without her soul. _That's_ why she couldn't be off the machines. "Why can't she come back?"

"You have known the reaper Grelle Sutcliff for only a year. In that time you could not possibly have come to comprehend all the things she has done in her life. The _trouble_ she has caused."

"But she hasn't caused any trouble for a long time! She—"

"Sixty years does not constitute a 'long time' in the scope of eternity."

Auden fell silent.

"Her lives, both human and Shinigami, and the actions she took as part of those lives, are currently under review On High. There is no statistic on the likelihood of her return."

Auden couldn't feel either of her hands now. She looked down at them and they looked far away, like they were not her hands.

"You're not to tell the demon."

"But Sebastian—"

" _Speak nothing, Auden Lord!_ "

A thousand voices blew together like the wind to form that roar. Auden had been halfway out of her seat, ready to protest, but the force of it sent her back cowering. Her whole body started to shake. Grelle could come back, but maybe they wouldn't let her, but maybe she could come back, and Auden couldn't talk to Sebastian about it.

"Do you understand?"

She nodded. Frightened tears stung her eyes.

"You are dismissed."

The latch on the door opened behind her. She rose from the table, her knees trembling, and carefully tucked the chair in before she went. Maybe she would have glanced back into the room one final time, but she knew there would have been nothing to see but darkness.


	11. Empty

Auden gave him the strangest reception when she got in that night. He'd looked over from his post beside Grelle's bed, up from the copy of _Wuthering Heights_ he'd been reading aloud to her, and when Auden met his eye, she looked about ready to burst into tears.

He was on his feet the next moment, going to her, saying, "Good heavens, Auden. What's happened? You're home late. Something at work?" but she shied away from him, backing almost completely out of the room. He stopped his approach.

"Auden?"

She just shook her head and disappeared down the hall. Her footsteps sounded on the stairs. The door to her room closed softly. Sebastian glanced back at Grelle and tried not to wish too hard that she was there to tell him what to do.

* * *

The moment her door shut, Auden gasped—one loud, painful breath and she used it to silence her tears. She couldn't cry about it. If she cried, Sebastian would ask her what was wrong and she couldn't lie, especially not to him. As much as she would have liked to tell him what had happened at work, she understood well by then what it meant to be a Shinigami. If she told him, her disobedience could jeopardize Grelle. She wouldn't give the Board, or On High, any reason to doubt that Grelle deserved to come back, that she'd trained Auden well, but when Auden had come home and seen Sebastian reading to Grelle, she just couldn't help the horrible pang in her heart.

It made her want to die all over again.

She went to the bathroom and took a long drink from the faucet, a little lightheaded by the end of it. She looked into the mirror, into the reflection of her own green eyes and stared hard, breathing hard, in and out in deep breaths until she was calm. She would be reliable. She would be Grelle's representative. She wouldn't give anyone any cause to declare Grelle officially and permanently dead.

There was a knock on her door.

"Come in," she called, trying for cheerful and getting strained instead. She cleared her throat, dipped her head under the faucet again for a second drink.

In the mirror, she saw Sebastian come in and glance around for a moment to locate her, eventually arriving at the threshold to the bathroom. She'd picked up a hairbrush in the meantime and started to pull her hair back into a ponytail. He looked at her eyes in the mirror.

"Is everything all right?" he asked.

Auden nodded. "Yeah, sorry. We had some tough soul collections today," she said, not exactly a lie. Some of them _had_ been hard to watch. "A premature baby." Such a short record, barely more than a few days. She shivered thinking about it, stopped the tears from rising in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Sebastian said.

"It's all right." Auden finished the ponytail and moved past him to go into her room. "How is Grelle?"

"Much the same," he replied.

She went into her closet and started pulling out a change of clothes like she always did. "Did any of the nurses say anything?"

Sebastian shook his head. "Only that they are reducing the staff."

Auden swallowed. "What?"

"They don't feel Grelle requires quite the round-the-clock care any longer," he said, and she could see behind his eyes that he was worried. "The number of nurses has been reduced to two."

Her heart beat fast. She couldn't tell him. She couldn't tell him why, that they were done researching, that Grelle could be all right, but that somebody else was in charge of making that decision now.

"Who's staying on?" she asked.

"Corey. The other shift will be a rotation."

Auden nodded.

Sebastian asked, "Did they have any news at Dispatch?"

This time her heart stopped.

"No," she said too quickly.

Before he could see through the lie, she went back into the bathroom and turned on the shower, knocking the knob all the way to the end of the red, and said something about wanting to wash up before dinner but she wasn't sure what the words were that came out of her mouth. At the very least, they got Sebastian to leave and she shut the door to her bathroom and took a very deep breath, one filled with steam from the scalding hot water pouring out of the showerhead.

She didn't know how long she could keep this up.

* * *

Sebastian went down and started dinner, and Auden appeared twenty minutes later wearing a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie, her hair wet. Something was bothering her, but Grelle would have told him it had to do with being a teenage girl and to leave her alone. So he tried his best.

"I think we ought to get Corey a gift," he said, dishing Auden a bowl of ravioli.

"Like what?" she asked. Taking the bowl, she went to the stove and the saucepan that bubbled on top of it.

"I was hoping you would have ideas."

Auden just shook her head, her eyes blank, spooning scoop after scoop of sauce onto the noodles like she wasn't able to stop.

"Well, keep it in mind," he said and eyed her, his gaze flicking from her hands to her face. She started and dropped the serving spoon.

"Sorry," she said.

"That's all right."

Her strange mood continued through dinner which they ate upstairs with Grelle. Auden was silent, pale, her feet propped up on the edge of the bed, eating her ravioli though she looked about ready to be sick. Sebastian wondered what it was about dying young that turned humans inside out. He had killed so many people in his lifetime, dealt and been dealt so much suffering that it almost seemed to him to be a mercy to be released from your life early on. He suspected also that this was an unpopular opinion.

"Sebastian?"

He turned a smile toward Auden, who always seemed to feel the need to ask his attention even when he was the only person in the room. Only _conscious_ person in the room, at least.

"Yes?"

"If Grelle doesn't wake up…like if we knew for certain she wasn't coming back…what would we do?"

Sebastian hadn't allowed himself to think that far ahead. Face an eternity without Grelle? It was unfathomable. He could pretend that Auden was enough, that she could fill the hole Grelle would leave if she passed, but pretending could only get him so far.

"I don't know," he replied.

Nodding, Auden looked at her lap. "Me either."

* * *

She might have asked him what Grelle had done to earn the wrath and hatred of the higher reapers, but she didn't dare. She'd come dangerously close to spilling the beans with her last question. She did wish he'd had an answer, though. Auden couldn't think of a gift for Corey and she couldn't think of what she would do if she actually had to grieve Grelle. Nobody close to her had ever died before.

Her bowl was empty now, but Auden stirred the sauce at the bottom around with her fork. The marinara was sort of the same color as Grelle's hair in the right light, and the thought made her smile, but it also made her sad. She looked up at Grelle's soul.

She was right there— _right there._ Both halves of her were complete, but the pieces were being kept apart. All it would take was a stamp of approval, just someone to say, "Okay," and Grelle would be up and at 'em like she always had been. How long would it take to make a decision On High? Why did there have to be any deliberation at all?

Getting up, she set the bowl down on her chair and walked, stretching, around the bed, coming to a stop at the base of the stand that held the bag filled with Grelle's soul. Auden wondered, looking at it, if it would be possible for her to see the Record. After all it was just there, flickering on the other side of the plastic, not going anywhere. If she touched the bag, would she be able to review it?

"What are you doing?"

Sebastian's voice was dark and it snapped Auden out of her thoughts to see her hand already extended toward Grelle's soul. She looked at him and paled at the glint of fangs in his mouth, lowering her hand.

"I don't know," she said. "I thought maybe…"

"Her aura flickered," Sebastian replied. "That frightened her."

She looked at Grelle, at her dead still face. She didn't look frightened. She didn't look like anything. Except for a corpse.

"I'm sorry," Auden whispered. She knew Sebastian could see and sense things she could not. Her heart screamed at her, shouting and shaking her brain back and forth. Just tell him, just tell him and deal with the aftermath. He deserved to know. Auden couldn't perceive how Grelle's soul reacted to the environment, and yet she was the one with the knowledge that things would be happening to that soul in the very near future.

She couldn't help asking another question.

"Do the reapers trust Grelle?"

Sebastian laughed. "In her own words, they would not trust her with a ball point pen if given the choice." The memory made him smile, but it had the opposite effect on Auden.

She just swallowed, faking a grin and nodding at him, but turning her face to her feet in the next moment and swallowing again at that lump of dread which had formed in her throat.


	12. Elicit

A reaper's soul would make a fine prize for any demon. A meal that would fill a belly for centuries and mean no contracts, no killing, no risking of life and limb against the Shinigami just to eat. Trouble was they were devilishly hard to obtain. Not entirely impossible, but difficult enough to cause a demon to think twice before making a move. The reapers were protective enough over simple human souls, astronomically more so over their own. Perhaps only a few hundred reapers had been consumed by demons since the two species came to be, but every demon had heard stories. The most satisfying meal in eternity, a flavor unparalleled.

Word started to go round of a reaper's soul which had abandoned its body. Some said it was being kept as a research specimen by the unsympathetic Shinigami, others claimed another demon had already taken possession of it. Eventually the truth got out.

There was a reaper's soul trussed up in a plastic bag in an ordinary house in Mayfair like some kind of ridiculous low-hanging fruit. A demon stood guard, but it was only one demon. Sometimes a Shinigami or two accompanied, but they were doctors or an infant. Nobody who would really be able to put up much of a fight against a few demons.

Or many.

Or hundreds.

Then they discovered that the demon was the one called Asgaheth, that the soul belonged to the red reaper, and the hiss spread like a byword on the wind. Suddenly everyone wanted revenge. Suddenly everyone was hungry.

It was just a matter of who would get there first.


	13. Event

"Hellooo?"

Ronald waved his hand in front of Auden's face and she snapped to attention, blinking and shaking her head. They were in Hyde Park, sitting on the grass, killing time between collections, but her mind had been somewhere else entirely—with Grelle, wondering if whatever powers constituted On High were deliberating now and what kind of conclusions they might be coming to.

"Sorry," she said, blinking again.

Every reaper she'd met since becoming one had told her how legendary Grelle was at causing trouble. Auden's own experience with her pointed that direction as well. Was it possible that any of it was bad enough for them to choose to keep her dead? Or would past mistakes be overlooked in favor of returning the system to normalcy? God knew they wouldn't send her soul back to her body out of mercy…

" _Auden_."

She jumped again, coming out of her thoughts. Ronald smiled.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

She answered swiftly. "Sebastian wants to get Corey a gift to say thank you. I was trying to think of something." It wasn't an outright lie, but Ronald didn't buy it.

"Uh-huh," he said, giving her a skeptical look.

Auden didn't see it because she was too busy running a mental pros and cons list from the board's perspective on the potential costs and benefits of bringing Grelle back.

"You seem more spacey than usual."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Wow, thanks, Ronald."

"No, I'm serious," he laughed. "What's on your mind? And don't say the present you're going to get Corey." He narrowed one of his eyes.

Auden sighed, wishing she could tell him. Wishing a lot of things, as a matter of fact. First and foremost that she hadn't passed her exam in the first place and had never become an official Shinigami. If she'd failed, she and Grelle wouldn't have been given the assignment with the gangs, they would never have run into those demons, and none of this ever would have happened.

"I can't say," she said.

"Will mentioned that you met with the board last night."

Swallowing, Auden nodded. "Yeah."

"Is that what's bothering you?"

She nodded again.

In a way, Auden was also wishing the board hadn't told her anything. At first she'd been thrilled to have information, to not _not know_ anymore, but now living with that knowledge and not being able to tell anyone was much worse than not having it at all. She looked at Ronald.

"Have _you_ ever met with them?"

Ronald shrugged. "Oh, once or twice for disciplinary hearings. Maybe a few other times to give reports but nothing major. Or secret." He glanced sideways at her, but didn't press, knowing the probable consequences of doing so. "They're pretty intimidating. I don't blame you for being worked up."

"If you have any gift ideas, I'm open to them."

"Auden..."

She looked at her watch instead of him, done talking about it. "The collection's coming due in two minutes. Let's go."

Grabbing her Scythe, Auden stood up and started off through the park without waiting for Ronald. He caught her up, falling into step with her brisk pace. She could tell he wanted to keep talking, so she moved faster, made it to their collection early, and kept him moving from job to job until they were back at Dispatch and it was time to clock out. He caught her hand as she headed down the hall to turn in her Death Scythe.

"Whatever it is, I'm sorry you have to deal with it on your own," he said, then let go.

Auden looked at her feet. "Thanks."

"Take it easy tonight. I'll see you tomorrow?"

She nodded. "Bright and early."

"Cheers." He saluted her and started off, turning around halfway down the hall to call back, "Corey and I were talking about the opera last I saw him at your place. Maybe he'd like tickets?"

Auden smiled. "I'll keep that in mind!" she replied.

They both turned around and Auden very nearly ran right into William who had appeared behind her.

"Bugger!"

"This is for you."

He handed her a plain white envelope, adjusted his glasses, and swept away, leaving Auden reasonably stunned. Chuckling, Ronald jogged back over.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I don't know," she replied quietly.

Auden turned the envelope over in her hands. It was sealed shut and the front didn't even have a name on it, just blank space. Slipping her pinkie under the flap, she ripped the envelope open and slid out a folded piece of paper.

In black typeface, it said:

 _Auden Lord,_

 _The Board will speak with you and the demon Sebastian Michaelis at five thirty this evening._

 _Do not be late._

And that was all.

Auden tried to swallow down that feeling of her heart beating in her mouth, but she couldn't. Her mouth was dry and she was dizzy. "What time is it?"

Ronald looked at his watch. "Five eleven."

" _Bugger._ "

She had to call Sebastian.


	14. Emitting

A year ago, Auden had called him perhaps an average of three to four times a day. She had been constantly worried—about where he was, what was for dinner, if the gallery was open or not, when he expected her and Grelle home from collection—and Sebastian had indulged her, always picking up, always answering her questions with patience, talking about nothing when she just wanted to talk. Eventually, she'd decreased the number of calls to two, then one, then ceased needing to speak with him over the phone altogether and settled for sending him the occasional miscellaneous text message. So when her name was the one on the screen when his phone began to vibrate, he knew immediately that something was wrong.

"Auden? What is it?" he said instead of hello.

She drew in a sharp breath and let it out just as sharply. "You—you need to come down here. To Dispatch. Right away. By five thirty, I mean. You—you should leave now…"

"Are you all right? Are you hurt?"

"No, I-I'm fine. I'm not hurt or anything, just please come down here right away."

She did not sound fine. She sounded rattled, like something had shaken her up. If even the slightest hair on her head had been moved out of place…

It took some effort to sound calm when he said, "Auden. Tell me what's going on."

"The board wants to meet with us," she replied. "It's about Grelle."

Sebastian was out the door the same instant.

* * *

"Asgaheth is no longer in the soul's radius."

* * *

Auden waited for Sebastian outside of Dispatch, nervously pacing back and forth for the minimal five minutes it took him to arrive. He was not there, and then suddenly _there_ , right in front of her, his eyes and face and his entire posture very, very serious. Auden nearly walked into him. He didn't say anything and neither did she, at least not for a moment as she moved swiftly inside and down the stairs and he followed. It wasn't until they reached the long hallway with the door at the other end that he spoke.

"You've met with them before."

It wasn't an accusation. It didn't sound angry, nor was it a question. Auden paused at the door and looked back at Sebastian and he regarded her with frankness as though he'd merely made an observation.

She didn't know if it was safe to respond.

Her watch said five thirty, so she turned the knob on the door and pushed it open. Inside, the room was just as dark as before. The same judge's bench still lined the far wall, towering up into the shadows. This time, however, there was no table, no chair, but just dark empty space between it and the door. She stepped forward. Sebastian's eyes flashed purple in the gloom.

"Shut the door," the voice said.

Auden glanced back, but Sebastian was already taking care of it.

"Auden Lord and the demon Sebastian Michaelis."

"Yes," Auden replied.

There was a space of silence.

"The two of you share a residence with the reaper Grelle Sutcliff."

"Yes," Auden said again.

Her heart beat hard in her chest and she wished they'd get on with it already. Was Grelle going to be alive or wasn't she? Surprisingly, no one on the board said anything after that. Pens scratched on papers not visible in the darkness. A few sheets of that same paper were shuffled. Auden mustered up a little sliver of courage.

"H-have any decisions been made?" she asked.

"No."

"Then why have you called us here?" Sebastian growled.

"Careful, demon."

"Answer me."

" _You_ have been called here to answer _our_ questions. Auden Lord accompanies as insurance that you will not do anything rash."

Sebastian scoffed. "This is not a game to me."

"We required certainty all the same."

He looked down, angry but subdued. "What are your questions?"

"Grelle Sutcliff's Cinematic Record from her human life has been reviewed, as has her Record as a reaper. We have been requested by On High to conduct interviews with all those who associate with her on a regular basis. From there we will move on to less-regular acquaintances."

"That could take _weeks_."

"Yes, or years perhaps."

The coolness of the response grated on Auden. Weeks? _Years?_ Could Grelle last that long? Would her body start to deteriorate? Would her soul frighten itself into madness? What if even after all that time, the two pieces still wouldn't fit together? No, they couldn't wait that long. On High needed to make a decision _now_.

"May I request that the process be expedited?" Sebastian asked. His hands curled into fists at his sides. He was restraining himself.

"We are not in the habit of fulfilling the requests of _demons_."

Sebastian's eyes flashed up, glowing, and he bared his fangs, so Auden reached out and grabbed hold of his hand to keep him from taking more than a step forward.

"Then do it for me," she said, interrupting the snarl that had started to rumble from his throat. She turned her face up at the darkness above the bench. " _Please_. Grelle…Grelle is like…she's my mother. I need her. Please."

Silence was the only response.

* * *

It was easy enough to slip undetected through the streets this time of evening. London's humans were all headed home to their meaningless dinners in their trite houses with their quaint families or silly flatmates. They wouldn't notice a group of demons strolling swiftly through Mayfair. Particularly when those demons looked so remarkably human, like they were headed home for dinner themselves.

Which, as a matter of fact, they were.

There were three of them, and they'd agreed to share the meal if they could get their hands on it. The rumors had been flying around for days, and they knew for a fact they weren't the only ones who had been keeping an eye on the demon called Asgaheth, and that they were not the only ones who would take advantage of this opportunity. Plenty of others wanted revenge on the red reaper, or Asgaheth, or both.

The soul was difficult to sense, but it was there, on the second floor of the red brick house with a golden number nine next to its door. The building appeared ordinary enough. Several other demons were sensible on the street, having staked out places to wait and watch. The three came to a stop and ducked into an alley between houses.

"Well?"

"Give me a minute…"

They were quiet, bated, wary.

"We'll have to wait and see who makes the first move."

They only had four seconds left to wait.

* * *

Auden stared pleading up at the darkness over the bench, praying, running that same word through her head over and over and over again: _please, please, please, please._ They had to see reason, they had to. The least they could do was agree to be quick. It was such a _small_ request.

Suddenly, Sebastian tensed. Auden looked at him and his glowing gaze seemed directed off somewhere far distant. His fangs were fully visible now.

"What is it?" she asked.

" _Grelle._ "

He disappeared the very same instant in a trail of smoking shadow.


	15. Electric

Sebastian flew through the streets of Southwark, across the Thames, between humans and buildings and vehicles, swifter than he had ever moved before on this earth. To those he passed, he would have appeared as little more than a shadow, a momentary obstruction of the light from the evening sun. Perhaps even the blink of an eye or the shift of one's gaze.

He was in Mayfair in a matter of seconds, on Charles Street a fraction later, arriving on the street just in time to see the last of the horde of demons disappear through his front door. The tremendous growl that started in his throat and made his eyes burn shook his very frame. He passed through the door, his clawed hand reaching, and his fingers sunk deep in the flesh of the first being they came to—a young demon, weak, who barely had time to gasp before Sebastian ripped its still beating heart from out of its back. Dark, almost black blood ran over his hand, down his wrist, and he cast the heart aside, reaching after another with his clean hand, securing the throat of a third in his bloody grip.

His were not the only claws that had drawn, or were drawing blood. For a moment, Sebastian turned his senses to the souls of the demons to count them. Forty-three. None of them had reached the top of the stairs yet. They were battling each other, deciding here who would take possession of Grelle's soul. But Sebastian had already decided. And it would be none of these. Not while he was breathing.

He tore the throat from the demon he had a handle on, the other escaped, turning on him to retaliate. A jolt of surprise passed through it.

"Asgaheth," it hissed.

Suddenly, the attention of the horde refocused. Directed at him. Sebastian seized the opportunity to sink his teeth into the demon he'd missed, the one who had identified him, and it let out a terrible screech, scratching at him in its dying throes, tearing the sleeve of his shirt.

The others were not so stupid to get caught off-guard. They backed off—those who were paying attention to him and not battling each other—eyeing him warily, their glowing eyes hungry and intent. Quietly, the other fights ceased or were won, every ounce of every being attending to him now. He unhooked his fangs and let the body of the now-dead demon slump on the floor. Sebastian spat its blood out of his mouth.

"Leave now and perhaps I will spare your lives," he snarled.

"You're outnumbered," one replied.

"I am always outnumbered."

Another smiled. "Pride is a grave sin, Asgaheth."

"So should stupidity be."

Behind him, Sebastian could sense the group closing in, pressing closer. He flicked a warning glare their direction.

"You are too accustomed to outside help," the creature to his right growled.

The same growl rumbled through another. "Yes, to your reapers."

"Your _reapers_."

A great hiss slithered through the crowd—a hiss of disgust and loathing. He could feel their malicious intent. They would not be kind to Grelle's soul if they took possession of it.

"You are nothing more than a reaper's dog," one of them spat.

"Dog."

"Reaper's _dog_."

"And you are nothing more than their cannon fodder," Sebastian replied.

They hissed—itching. This standstill wouldn't hold much longer. Eyes turned within the group to other members of the group, every one of them sizing up the other, wondering who would make the first move. The infighting had ceased altogether. Sebastian had their attention, but he knew demons. They would bolt for the stairs at the first opportunity.

Then, suddenly, they all became aware that at that very moment, someone was already upstairs, near the very room where Grelle's soul was being kept. The presence was familiar.

" _Spider_."

The standstill broke. Sebastian made a move toward the stairs, and had he not been expecting most of the others to do the same, he might have been prepared for the cloud of thirty demons that engulfed him. But he had not. So he was not. And they took hold of his arms and forced him down.

* * *

Auden's breath came gasping and hurting as she hurled herself round the corner onto Charles Street, her Scythe in her hands, her lungs burning. She was running, running, running, faster and harder than she had ever run in her life. London had passed as a blur.

" _Demon!_ " the board had cried after Sebastian just as he'd bolted.

" _Sebastian!_ " Auden had cried herself.

They'd told her—ordered her—not to follow, they'd roared in that many-voiced voice that she was not to go after him, but Auden didn't bloody care. She'd firmed up her grip on her Scythe and taken off as fast as her Shinigami body would carry her.

Even then it had still taken several minutes to reach her house. The door was open when she got there, stumbling over the stoop, and inside it was nothing but shadows and blackness and hissing points of light. Demons.

Her house was _full_ of _demons_.

Auden's heart stuttered for a moment. Fear froze her steps—thinking about that night all this had started, about how it felt to be surrounded by demons on all sides, to have their claws dig into her arms, to watch as they rammed her Scythe through Grelle's chest and back and body over and over again, all those nights Nick had knelt on her stomach, covered her mouth, told her to keep quiet or else—and she _was_ afraid.

But she was not any longer.

She held that same Scythe in her hands now and suddenly Auden felt a new sensation she had not ever fully recognized as part of who she was. It was strength. A lust for blood. She wanted to kill something. And she damn well wanted revenge.

"All right, you sodding bastards. Let's do this."

Auden stepped over the threshold.

* * *

Sebastian severed the arm that held his throat in a vice grip at the elbow, but not before its claws drew wounds across his neck, deep in his ebony skin. He hissed, the scratches burning, grabbing hold of the same demon's ankle as another pushed him back to the floor.

His heart beat against his chest in a painful frenzy, and Grelle's soul cried out, terrified and confused and _helpless_ , but he could only work his way to her slowly, and now he was not working his way at all. The bulk of the demons had focused on him, those that had made it to the stairs and up them fighting with each other now. Not one of them had touched Grelle, but it was only a matter of time…

He ripped the foot off the demon—or tried to. He only had it halfway before someone else leapt onto his arm, snapping something under their weight. Ten or twelve demons had piled on his back, and they hauled him up as he let out a growl of pain, leaving gashes in the ankles of the demon who had met with his arm.

The one nearly missing its foot grabbed hold of his jaw as the others forced him up onto his knees. The demon tightened its grip, puncturing the skin of Sebastian's cheeks to his teeth.

"You are disgusting," it hissed, "to sleep beside a reaper and never think of consuming its soul. To kill so many of your own kind on their behalf. You should be punished."

A laughing snarl of agreement passed through the crowd.

"Punish me and your meal will slip through your fingers," Sebastian said, his voice strange and whistling through the new holes in his face.

"Most of us never had a hope of obtaining the Shinigami's soul," the demon replied. "So we will have to settle for the sweet savor it will be to kill _you_."

"You can try."

"Oh, Asgaheth, do you truly think that you have any hope?"

Those surrounding Sebastian pressed tighter, wringing their grips on his limbs. They'd dealt a lot of damage when they'd first taken hold of him, doing further damage still as they held on. He'd fought, but they'd so easily outnumbered him. Perhaps they were right. Perhaps he did rely too much on reapers. He could not find it in him to answer.

The demon started to laugh, throwing its head back and cackling great, obscene sounds. They would kill or dispatch Sebastian eventually though he would fight until his last breath, then they would go for Grelle, if she had not already been taken by then. The demon drew in a breath to laugh again, raising its hand to thrust into Sebastian's chest, but the end of a Scythe burst through from its own and it gasped instead. The hula hoe flipped lateral, then withdrew, back through the demon with a sickening slice.

The demon collapsed on the floor. Auden wiped the blood that had spattered her face with her sleeve.

"One of your kind taught me that," she said. "Glad to finally return the favor."

Momentarily shocked by her sudden appearance, the demons holding and surrounding Sebastian had frozen, but they thawed quickly and moved snarling for Auden, gasping, "Reaper! Reaper!" as they reached for her. The first in her radius met with a deafening crack as the shaft of her Scythe connected with the bottom of its chin. The next got her blade through its heart, and the third tried to back up but it was too late, and Auden sent a slice across its neck just as it stumbled out of her reach. The rest hedged in their forward movement.

It was just enough to allow Sebastian to break free.

The demons had ruptured several of the discs in his spine, he could feel it, but he couldn't spare any of his strength to heal. Grimacing, and sliding a dislocated shoulder back into place, he swept to Auden's side and fell into sync with his back to hers. She held her Scythe up at the ready. The first demon she'd attacked raised its hand to a broken jaw.

"Is this all of them?" Auden asked.

Sebastian shook his head, spitting blood, his own now, onto the floor. "There are others upstairs." His arm was broken, but it was just a hairline fracture.

Auden nodded once. _Understood._

Before Sebastian or any of the other demons could even begin to recoup, Auden brought her Scythe up to bear over her head and spun in a deadly circle. The motion cut through or dealt injury to every demon in its circumference. Sebastian only just managed to duck.

The others wasted no time then. They flew in a snarling cloud to attack the two of them all at once. Auden dealt blows with her Death Scythe. Sebastian ripped limbs from bodies and hearts from chests, crushing skulls where he could, but Auden was inexperienced and he was crippled and it was only a matter of moments before he took a misstep.

A demon feinted a punch at his ribs, pulling out of it just in time to deliver a kick to the back of Sebastian's knee, breaking the joint on impact. Sebastian stumbled. Another demon grabbed hold of his fractured arm and forced him onto his knees. Grelle's soul still beat furious and afraid in his temples.

A hand closed around his heart.

* * *

Auden finished off her current opponent just in time to turn and see one of the demons holding Sebastian shape its hand into a point and ram it into his chest.

" _No!_ " she bellowed.

Behind her, demons were climbing the stairs. Sebastian here. Grelle there.

The demon with his hand in Sebastian's chest laughed gleefully. Sebastian kicked its legs out from underneath it. Those demons were nearly to the top of the stairs now.

Auden started for Sebastian, ready to help, but another demon stabbed its claws into him from behind. Gasping, Sebastian looked up, and he looked right at her.

"Leave me," he said, and she could not get her eyes to unfocus from the blood that ran from his mouth as he spoke. "Get to Grelle."

Auden had no choice. Swallowing the lump of fear and sorrow in her throat, she rushed to the stairs, cutting through the legs of a demon at the base and dealing one, two swift blows to the next she encountered. By the time she reached the top, the stronger ones who had been battling each other up there were ready for her.

"What a feisty little reaper this one is, eh?" one of them chuckled. "Made it up here without a scratch."

"Shut it," Auden growled. "Or I'll cut your tongue out."

They laughed at her. These ones seemed different from the others—more individual and aware. More like Sebastian. There was a reason they had progressed this far and the others had not. Auden flexed her grip over the shaft of her Scythe, slick now with demon blood.

There were four of them, two females, two males, all tall and sleek and black, shadows surrounding them in curling waves. Their eyes were colored and glowing—one blue, one silver, one purple, one yellow. They'd been fighting each other before she'd arrived, but not a one of them showed very much damage. They stood and observed her, unworried. They must have known what was happening to Sebastian.

"You are quite strong for such a young child," the silver-eyed one said.

"I _said_ shut it."

The demon closed her mouth and smiled.

The one with yellow eyes strode forward—the slightest hints of gold shifting through the shadows that followed him. Auden tensed, ready for an attack, but he did not deliver one. Instead he came to a stop just in front of her and smiled—white and sharp in the shining black of his face—and the expression looked strangely kind.

"Quite a marvel indeed," he said.

Then, in the blink of an eye, he was gone.

The other demons started with a hiss. He'd taken advantage of their lowered guards to go after Grelle's soul. Auden could see the door to her room swinging on its hinges.

"That spider bastard," the blue-eyed demon snarled. "He—"

She did not have a chance to finish whatever curse she was about to lay out because Auden gutted her straight through. Shock swept through the other two demons' faces, and Auden dealt the purple-eyed one a critical blow before either of them recovered. Then all three, demon, demon, and reaper, bolted after the yellow-eyed creature right into Grelle's room.

Strangely, he had paused for a moment at her bedside, looking down as if to admire her before kissing the sleeping beauty awake. The light of Grelle's soul danced frantic on the walls. The demon turned his gaze to Auden and the others as they came tumbling in, fighting still. Auden wasted no time going right for his throat, but the silver-eyed demon grabbed hold of her hair and yanked her back.

"Not so fast, Shinigami. This one is _mine_."

Auden swung the bottom of her Scythe up, but the demon dodged, letting her go.

"Don't touch her," Auden hissed at the yellow-eyed one who was now dangerously close to the plastic bag.

He stepped back and turned to face her and the others. In the next beat, the pairings had been decided. The silver-eyed demon went after the yellow-eyed one. The purple-eyed man leapt toward Auden.

She barely dodged him, stumbling over the rug, but regaining her footing just in time to parry the swing he took at her head. She swiped at his legs, then his arm, then blocked him with her Scythe as he swung a punch toward her gut. The blow was so powerful that it sent Auden sliding backwards across the floor.

The demon stalked forward.

Auden brought her Scythe up.

Block, block, dodge. Swing, swipe, dodge. They circled each other, watching carefully for signs of the next attack. On the other side of the room, the yellow and silver eyed demons were locked in a similar battle.

Auden's opponent lunged at her. She saw him favor his right leg, the one she'd hit earlier in the hall, so she went for it again, but he was counting on that. He grabbed hold of her shoulder, ready to send his other set of claws through her face, but she ducked, slipping his grip and escaping the claw with only a slice across her forehead.

Stinging, the wound started to bleed that same instant.

Luckily the demon had been anticipating dealing a little more damage than that. He turned on his toes to launch back at her and dig his claws into her shoulder again, but Auden crouched down, then swung up, stabbing her Scythe into the air with all her strength in the direction she assumed his trajectory would take.

The Scythe connected. Auden heard and felt the bones and sinew as the blade—which could cut through anything—cut through the demon's middle. He choked. She swung round and swung him off the blade before he could slow her down.

Once she'd regained her feet, she directed her attention to the other fight. The yellow-eyed demon was holding the silver-eyed head in his hands, looking at it like he might a piece in a museum. Her body was on the floor at his feet.

There was a whip of wind and heat at Auden's back and she glanced instinctively to see the blur of black as the demon she'd been fighting fled the room.

"It takes more than a single cut from a Scythe to kill one of _us_ ," the yellow-eyed demon said matter-of-factly, like he was trying to help her out.

"I don't know why none of you listen when I tell you to shut it," Auden replied.

Smiling, he set down the silver-eyed head, next to her body and arranged her hair. Then he straightened.

"I'll be taking my prize now."

Auden lifted her Scythe, the cut on her forehead dripping blood into her eye. "I'll _die_ first," she hissed.

"That can be arranged."

He flew at her with such speed, Auden probably wouldn't have been able to dodge even if her vision had been clear. His hand closed around her throat, lifting her high with the force of his movement, then he let go, flinging her back where she collided with the wall. Auden gasped as her breath went out of her, and the gasp made her cough, then choke. She pushed to her knees to get up, reached after her Scythe but— _where was her Scythe?_

Auden's blood ran chill.

Her Scythe was on the floor. By the bed. She'd dropped it when he'd grabbed her.

The yellow-eyed demon came forward. He bent down to look into her eyes as she coughed and choked more and tried to get away. His hand caught hold of her wrist as she fled. She tried to pull it free but his grip tightened and Auden cried out.

"Did you think you were stronger than me?" he asked. Not taunting, just a question. His face was perfectly still, his eyes calm.

"I won't let you take her soul," she spat.

"Shinigami, that is a matter that has very little to do with you," he said. "This is a meal of such exquisite beauty, such rarity, that I will not let it pass me by."

"Then I guess we're at an impasse."

He chuckled, genuinely amused and not condescending at all. "I see that Grelle has rubbed off on you."

Auden started. He knew her? How did he know her? Did he know Sebastian? Holding her eye, the demon let her go, backing up, toward the bed and Grelle.

"Make no mistake, I _will_ kill you if you get in my way," he said.

"And I'll kill you if you get in mine."

Auden didn't have the chance to prove her statement. In a flash, he was right in front of her again, pinning her arms behind her back and her body against the wall, one of his hands around her throat, the other pressing into her stomach to hold her aloft. He looked calmly into her face as she gasped for air. Darkness started to creep in the corners of her vision. Soon she couldn't even gasp anymore. She could only stare into his eyes as he looked at her and her heartbeat started to pulse in her temples. Her vision grew darker still. The light in the room flickered, then was gone.

The demon released her. Auden gasped an inexplicable breath when she met the ground. What? Why? What was going on? Why hadn't he finished her off? What was he doing? Why was it so damned bloody dark? Then she saw what it was. Why he had let her go. Why the light had gone out.

It was Grelle, holding Auden's Scythe, pointed directly at the demon's heart. Her lips curled up to show her teeth.

"Touch her again and I'll cut your sodding head off."


	16. Embrace

It was taking every ounce of concentration Grelle was capable of maintaining just to stand upright, much less hold Auden's Scythe in a reasonably menacing position. Gods, how _long_ had she been out? Her body felt like it hadn't moved in _weeks_ , her limbs all jellied and shaking. Blessedly, the demon took one glance back at her—just long enough for Grelle to recognize the color of his eyes—smile, then disappear in a wisp of black-gold shadow.

Claude.

That bastard.

Grelle hadn't the slightest idea what time it was, or when she had arrived home, or why exactly Auden had blood—demon and reaper—all over her hands and shirt and face, or what in the bloody hell _Claude Faustus_ had been doing in her bedroom, but it all stunk of some very bad taste if you asked her. Given the look of absolute astonishment on Auden's face, Grelle guessed she must have been unconscious for quite some time. As if to prove a point, her legs started to give out.

"Bugger." Grelle leaned on the Scythe for support, but tumbled over completely on her weak knees. " _Bugger_ all."

No sooner had she landed by the side of her bed, no control whatsoever over her useless arms, legs, or neck, than Auden was sobbing as Auden always did, scrambling across the floor, nearly tripping over her Scythe, and throwing her arms around Grelle to get snot all down her shoulders and back, and blood all over her front. Grelle could barely manage to sling her arm up to return Auden's hug, and even then it was just dead weight across the kid's shoulders. All the same, it made Auden sob harder.

" _You're back, you're back, you're back,_ " she blubbered, almost unintelligible. " _You're back._ "

"Of course I am, darling," Grelle said, then cleared her throat. Gods, was that _her_ voice? "Of course I am."

Auden couldn't answer. She just cried and cried, holding on, getting Grelle covered in all sorts of bodily fluids. Good gracious, something certainly had gone on in her house, hadn't it? A moment later, Auden pulled back, sniffing and wiping her eyes.

"Who was that demon?" she asked.

"Just some good-for-nothing little shit, darling. Don't worry about him." Grelle smiled, but even working the muscles in her face was troublesome. "Any idea what he was doing here?"

Auden stared at her. Mortified, maybe. "He wanted your _soul_."

Gods, _what?_ Was that what had happened? Grelle squinted, trying to puzzle out exactly what had gone on in the fuzzy haze that was her latest memory. Sebastian. The hospital. Those fangs she'd wanted to make into earrings… A jolt went through her.

She'd died.

Again.

Sort of.

Her soul had escaped her body. She could remember it now. Damned bloody painful, that. Someone at Dispatch must have found some way to contain it. Even so, what in the hell had gone on between then and now? Grelle wanted to know, but she was also bloody exhausted. Just breathing was tremendously laborious, every inhalation deep, every exhalation quick. She shut her eyes for a moment and let her body fall back against the bed completely. It was then she noticed the headless demon and the headless demon's head not that far from where she was slumped.

" _Gods_. Did you do that?"

Auden shook her head, wiping her nose. "No, that was the other one."

"Gracious, he'll do anything for a rare meal…"

That made Auden start to cry all over again.

"Oh, darling, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring it up." Grelle reached a weak arm over to Auden, fumbled to take hold of her hand. Strange to be consoling someone over a trauma that had nearly happened to _yourself_ not to them, and one you had no memory of to boot. "Don't cry."

Auden did not know how to not cry, evidently. Grelle just smiled. Poor baby. She was a right mess, through and through.

"It's all right now. I promise."

Letting out a shivering breath, Auden slumped into Grelle's lap and wrapped her arms around her waist. Grelle smiled again, lifting her hands to Auden's head and stroking her hair.

* * *

It felt so indescribably good to let Grelle brush her fingers through her hair that Auden almost couldn't believe it was real. Had she not just fought a battalion of demons to get here, she might have thought this was a dream. She didn't know why the yellow-eyed demon had left when he did, or why On High had apparently decided to grant Grelle her life back, but she didn't care. She was _back._ Grelle was _back,_ and Auden couldn't have been happier.

* * *

Downstairs, Sebastian had had no choice but to direct some of his strength toward healing his wounds. The second demon who had attempted to remove his heart had lost its head shortly after Auden had reached the top of the stairs, when Sebastian had reached back and delivered a swift, wrenching twist. Every motion had been sheer agony after that.

He had no true understanding of what had happened—his perception clouded by a haze of pain and demon shadows—all he knew was that he had struck killing blows at anything that had dared move within his radius, and received far greater damage in return, until at once every demon had fled the house in one great exodus.

Then he'd fallen to the floor, his mind gone black.

Minutes only passed before he came to, drawing in a deep, gasping breath and then coughing on the blood in his mouth which he'd sucked into his lungs. The house was empty of any living demon aside from himself. Auden was upstairs—the gentle blue beat of her soul quite bright. Grelle was—he could no longer sense Grelle.

 _He could no longer sense Grelle_.

Their souls were connected—his and Grelle's—and though he had no explanation for it, he only knew it was fact. Perhaps years spent living side-by-side had tied them together, or perhaps he had just grown particularly accustomed to her red aura so that he could sense it across miles. Whatever the case, he had heard her when she'd cried out in fear at the demons ambushing Charles Street. He had heard her and come running. And now he could not hear her at all.

Sebastian struggled to his knees, pushing on two broken arms onto a broken kneecap. Groaning, biting his tongue to distribute the pain, he crawled to the stairs, gasped up every last one. By the time he reached the top, he had to stop and rest. Tears were already stinging his eyes.

If she had been consumed he didn't know what he would do.

Perhaps that was why all the demons had left. Nothing to fight over any longer.

He forced himself to his feet, using the banister as a prop. Then he stumbled down the hallway to the open door. Auden was inside, he could sense her, and prepared himself for the worst.

Imagine his surprise then, when he pushed open the door and Grelle looked up to see who was coming in, propped against the side of the bed with Auden's arms around her waist.

The wavelength had changed.

Nothing more.

It wasn't that he couldn't sense her. It was that her soul had once again united with her body.

* * *

When Sebastian saw Grelle, he fell to his knees. Auden sat up, her heart swelling. He had _survived._ This sound started to emanate from him, like the wind howling through a forest of barren trees. She'd heard him make that noise only once before, when Grelle had gone under at the hospital, her soul pouring out of her. He collapsed, then started to sob. Auden wasn't certain, but he looked to be covered in blood.

Grelle touched a hand to the top of her head.

"Help me over to him, love," she said.

Auden was quick to get to her feet and help Grelle onto hers. She supported her across the short distance to where Sebastian was lying on the floor—all crumpled into himself and sobbing. Careful, Auden lowered Grelle down, and Grelle took Sebastian into her arms and leaned over him, too weak to sit up.

"Hush now, my darling," she whispered. "Everything's all right."

Sebastian grasped onto her, sobbing still. It was such a strange sight to see him looking so inhuman and doing such a human thing. He seemed to be unable to control himself, completely overwhelmed. Grelle stroked his hair, kissing his face and whispering softly until he'd calmed down, which took several minutes.

Eventually, Sebastian grasped Grelle's hand in his own, lifted it to his lips and pressed a kiss to each of her fingertips.

"I thought I'd lost you," he said, his dark face still streaked with tears.

She smiled at him as he kissed her hand again, fervent and deep.

"Never, my love."


	17. Eloquent

Auden could only bear one more second seeing Sebastian and Grelle like that before she tossed herself onto the pile and hugged them both, fighting tears all over again. Sebastian put an arm around her middle, Grelle one around her shoulders, and the three of them snuggled close in a heap on the floor.

"What a state we're in, hm?" Grelle chuckled. Her voice sounded dusty and unused still, but otherwise back to normal. "What a _state_."

Sebastian made an affirmative noise in the back of his throat, unable to do much more. He was perhaps in the worst state of the three of them. Auden could see now that she was closer all the various wounds—deep, shallow, portions of fleshing missing altogether—he was covered in. Some appeared to be in the process of healing, but the pace was slow and his breathing was labored. There was a benefit to her looking small and inexperienced: opponents would ignore or underestimate her. But this was the cost. She wished, looking at him, that she had been able to draw a few more of the demons away, that he hadn't had to fight like that. Of course, it was far too late for wishing.

Downstairs, several pairs of shoes sounded on the floor of the foyer.

"Jesus _Christ_ , look at all this."

"It's a bleeding massacre…"

"Sebastian? Auden?"

The last voice was Ronald's. He and a few other Shinigami must have come into the house. Grelle looked Auden's way and smiled softly.

"Would you go down to meet them, darling? Sebastian doesn't have the strength to hold a human form, and it's best to keep this look of his confidential."

Nodding, Auden sat up carefully, then hauled herself onto her feet. She was already feeling sore and tired, so she stretched on her way out the door, which she shut behind her, and over to the landing.

"Up here," she said.

Three pairs of green eyes flicked her direction, and she saw Ronald let out a sigh of relief. He hurried over to the bottom of the stairs.

"Thank god. What happened? Are you all right? Management sent us over as soon as the reports of demons in the area came in…"

He started toward her, but Auden held up a hand and came down herself. As soon as she reached the bottom, Ronald passed her a handkerchief for the cut on her forehead.

"Looks like you've been through hell."

Auden laughed darkly. "Pretty close."

"Maybe twenty-two dead, sir," one of the other Shinigami said as he approached Ronald. "But it's hard to say."

"Some of them are in so many pieces it could be more," the second shrugged.

Auden had been trying to ignore the veritable battlefield of demon bodies that littered the floor, bleeding everywhere. There was one at her feet on the stairs, one she'd probably been responsible for, but she only looked at it out of her peripheral vision, trying very hard to keep her eyes up and on Ronald.

"There's another one upstairs," she said.

"Twenty-three for the record then." The other Shinigami made a note in a folder, nodding.

"It's not…Sebastian, is it?" Ronald asked.

Auden shook her head. "No. But he's not in a condition to be seen at the moment."

"And Grelle?"

Suddenly there were tears in Auden's eyes, and she didn't get the chance to answer because someone interrupted her.

"Good grief."

William was in the doorway, scooting a demon body out of the way with the end of his pruners, the usual testy look on his face. Ronald turned to face him in surprise.

"Will? Don't tell me they sent you down to babysit."

"I am only here to verify that Grelle's soul has been successfully reconnected with her body," he replied.

"Bloody _what?_ "

William ignored him, looking at Auden. "Well?"

"She told me not to let anybody upstairs…" Auden replied. Ronald was trying to catch her eye, but she didn't have any answers, so she ignored him as well.

"Grelle is _back?_ "

"Any particular reason why?" William asked.

"Sebastian is too injured to hold a human form," she said.

"As I have already seen him that should not present a problem. Come now."

William started up the stairs and had passed Auden and was somehow leading the way before she really had a change to process what was going on. All the same, she followed quickly, giving Ronald a look to stay behind. When had William seen Sebastian's true form? Perhaps that night he and Sebastian had gone hunting for the demons who had injured Grelle in the first place. She didn't ask him about it, and they were to Grelle and Sebastian's room by then anyways. He pushed open the door and stepped inside.

"Hello, Will."

"So you are awake."

William opened up a file in his hands and scribbled a few things down on the papers inside as Auden came into the room and closed the door. Grelle gave William a tight smile.

"Care to explain what the bloody hell is going on?"

"Auden and Sebastian were in the process of meeting with the board to discuss the possible return of your soul to your body, when extenuating circumstances arose. After some quick debate, it was decided On High that your soul would be better served to be returned to you than to end up as food for a demon."

"Ah."

"I suspect they would have returned even Adolf Hitler's soul to him had he been a Shinigami in the same situation."

Grelle chuckled. "So they decided to show a little mercy to Jack the Ripper."

"It was the only sure way to prevent the demons from taking possession."

Nodding, Grelle was quiet.

"Now that I've verified the return was a success, I'll be on my way." Making a few marks in his folder, William nodded curtly at the three of them, then turned to go.

"Thank you, William," Grelle said.

He hesitated with his hand on the door. "Good to have you back, Sutcliff," he said, facing the hallway.

So that was that.

Exhausted, Auden plopped down on the floor next to Grelle. Sebastian had quieted and his eyes were closed now, his breathing a little less labored. Grelle looked horrific herself, her face pale and gaunt, her arms shivering with a lack of use. Auden would take care of them, anything it took, as long as it took, to have her family back.

Downstairs she could hear the voices of Ronald and the others as they cleaned up the bodies of the demons. Maybe she should have gone to help them, but she didn't dare leave Grelle and Sebastian alone. She was the only one in a fit state to fight, should any of the other demons come back.

They sat in silence, resting. Auden still couldn't believe Grelle was truly there, that On High had decided to return her. Then again, the circumstances had been strange ones. Suddenly, a thought struck Auden.

"Grelle?" she asked.

"Hm?"

"What did you mean… About Jack the Ripper?"

"A story for another time, darling," Grelle replied with a smile. "For now, just rest."

* * *

What a pathetic pair they were, completely done in and totally knackered. Auden had had to play nurse _and_ mother, bringing Grelle and Sebastian food and water and fresh blankets and bandages, even changing out Grelle's oxygen tanks once she'd hooked herself back into them. Grelle was awake, certainly, but more than a month without moving or eating like a normal creature had done a number on her body, Shinigami or no. Eventually Corey had arrived and taken over the duties and sent Auden, who was pretty knackered herself, to bed.

Corey gone home, they were alone now, curled up around each other, Sebastian resting peacefully, his eyes closed though his hands roamed everywhere—slowly stroking her hair one moment, then her neck, down to her legs, as if he wanted to be absolutely certain she was still there, and in one piece. Grelle didn't mind. Though she had no memory of the time she'd spent separated from her body, it _did_ feel as though it had been long, and she had missed him. Missed that demon heat.

His hands settled. One around her waist, tucked against her ribs, the other resting over her heart.

"Hm," he said on a soft outward breath. "Still breathing… Still beating."

"You didn't think I'd leave without at _least_ saying goodbye, did you?" she smiled.

Sebastian opened his eyes and turned his gaze toward her. That beautiful, shifting luminescence, red and purple at the same time.

"Do not ever leave," he said. "I will not bear being without you."

Grelle didn't quite know what to say to that. This past month—she now knew it to have been a month—must have been hell on him. To have actually endured the reality of her absence had changed him. Again. They were equally devoted now. Grelle could feel it in the way he looked at her.

"You won't have to, love," she said. "I'm not going anywhere."


	18. End

A week later, Grelle was finally strong enough to leave the house, but Sebastian was not, and Auden was beginning to get anxious all over again.

"It's been a long time since he's had anything to eat, darling. That's all," Grelle explained as they strolled slowly through Hyde Park together, Auden supporting Grelle on her arm. "It takes energy to heal. Like burning calories."

"And he doesn't have anything to burn."

"Not particularly, no."

Auden frowned at the path, at the grass, at the trees when she looked up toward the sky.

"Can we do anything?"

Grelle shrugged. "Not to my knowledge."

The next time she was at Dispatch, Auden hunted William down.

"Can I request a meeting with the board?" she asked outright.

William practically dropped the stack of files he was holding. " _Pardon?_ "

"Can I request to meet with the board?" Auden said again, and slower. "I want to talk to them."

"What on _earth_ could you possibly have to say?"

"That doesn't matter. Is it possible or not?"

By the end of her shift, Auden had a note summoning her to that shadowy basement room in three days' time.

* * *

At home, she and Grelle had to cook dinner on their own, which meant that they were eating soup out of a can. Once it was hot enough, and they went upstairs to sit with Sebastian, he was none too happy to see what it was they'd fixed.

"Damn those demons. _Canned_ soup?"

"It's fine, love," Grelle said, pulling up a chair next to the bed where Sebastian was now an almost permanent resident in place of her.

"It is not _fine_. No one in this house should _ever_ have to eat canned soup. Damn those demons. _Damn them._ "

"Relax, Sebastian."

"I hate being in this position."

"Quite the role reversal, isn't it?" Grelle said with a smile, taking his hand and stroking the back. Sebastian let out a pitiful little moan and then grumbled something unintelligible about how he much preferred to be the caregiver rather than the recipient and Grelle shushed him. "Just let us repay you, love."

Auden smiled. She would be doing her part very shortly.

* * *

This time, she stepped with confidence through that gigantic door at the end of the white hallway. The air inside was cold, as she had come to expect, and the space still felt vast in spite of its dark emptiness and the fact that she could see nothing but the massive judge's bench that circled the back. Once she was inside, though a bit of her old fear returned.

"Auden Lord."

She swallowed the nervous butterflies that tried to escape her belly. This was nothing. She could fight demons and win. She could reap hundreds of souls in an eight-hour day and never bat and eyelash. She could stand to make a request of these mysterious Shinigami.

"State your business," they said.

"I'd like to inquire as to the status of Nicholas Drury's soul."

The board was quiet, but Auden still felt the effects of a silent gasp. She gave them a moment, then prompted.

"Well?"

"You make a very bold statement."

"I've gotten rather bold of late."

Quiet. Then, "Nicholas Drury's soul is in holding. It has not been decided yet whether it will be passed through for completion or…not."

Sod these Shinigami and their bureaucracy. "Why haven't any decisions been made?"

"Why do you ask?"

"He was _my_ abuser. He could see _me_ when he wasn't supposed to. He found and tried to harm _me_ even after I became a Shinigami. I think at the very least I deserve _some_ say in what happens to his soul."

"Some would say that smacks of arrogance, Auden Lord."

"And others would say that it is the duty of a Shinigami to pass judgement on mortals."

They were silent again, deliberating. Auden could feel the air humming as they spoke with one another on some unknown frequency. She didn't hold her breath. She didn't shut her eyes and wish and pray for the outcome she wanted. She would _will_ the outcome she wanted. She would force it into being. She would not budge and she knew they'd be able to sense that.

"What do you propose?" they said after a moment.

"I want to give it to Sebastian for permanent destruction."

Another gasp, but they recovered more quickly this time. "Your reason?"

"Sebastian was willing to sacrifice himself to save the soul of a Shinigami. He has lived in harmony with the will of the Dispatch Association for several decades. And I know for a fact he is the only demon you have on hand to dispose of unwanted souls."

She did _not_ know that for a fact. It was a straight bluff through and though. She'd pieced together what she figured was the deal worked out between Sebastian and the Shinigami, but no one had ever told her directly. But the effect the statement had on the air in the room was enough to confirm her suspicions.

"We will consider it."

"No. You will decide now."

Stunned silence this time.

"He fought for you—he _fights_ for you, and this is how you repay him? He could be dying and the Association is just going to stand by and let that happen, and for what? So you don't have to come down off your horse to collaborate with a demon? Some would say that smacks of arrogance."

Silence still.

"You haven't decided what to do with his soul yet, which tells me that there's something special about it—some reason why you haven't fully committed one way or the other. The only reason to hesitate to pass completion is if the soul is worthy of destruction. So destroy it. Let me cast the final vote."

That was all she had to say. Auden planted her feet firmly on the ground and looked up at the top of the bench, at the shadows on shadows that she almost couldn't see. They _would_ agree. Logic was one of the great Shinigami virtues.

"You may tell the demon that he will come down tomorrow morning at nine o'clock. He knows the location."

Auden's heart practically leapt out of her chest for joy, but she stifled the feeling under a serious look and a contemplative nod.

"Nicholas Drury's soul will be waiting for him."

Auden inclined her head. "Thank you."

"Will that be all?"

"Yes."

"Do not be late."

Auden grinned. "We won't."

* * *

Sebastian guessed by the sun that it must have been early evening. He'd been sleeping so often as of late that he no longer had any sense of how many days had passed, if days had passed at all. He was only conscious of the change of light outside window and Grelle's presence as she came and went, sitting bedside or curling up beside him, speaking softly, touching gentle kisses to his lips. Sometimes he spoke and complained about things, but he could barely remember these moments—like he was coming out of sedation.

This time, though, when he woke up, his mind felt a little clearer. He was acutely aware of every fracture in his bones, of every wound half-heartedly closed up, of every bruise and broken vessel. Demons could be remarkably brutal. Himself included.

Grelle came in quietly, but shut the door at an ordinary volume when she saw he was awake.

"Hello, love."

"Hello," he replied in a whisper.

She sat down on the edge of the bed and placed a hand over his own. "Any better?"

"More conscious. And not better for it."

"Mm."

She brought his hand to her lips and kissed his knuckles. That was one comfort in a sea of misery and pain. Grelle kissed her way down the back of his hand to his wrist, then up his arm. When she got to his face she just hovered over him for a moment, smiling for some reason.

"What?" he asked.

"I like playing nurse," she said.

"Grelle! Sebastian!"

The front door slammed and Auden's feet pounded immediately up the stairs and down the hall. She threw open the door and flew inside.

" _Guess what?_ "

Grelle laughed. "What?"

"I met with the board today," she said. "They're going to give Sebastian Nick's soul."

Grelle practically toppled off the bed and Sebastian could hardly blame her. The jolt that went through his body was powerful enough to make him wince at the pain it caused in its wake.

" _What?_ " Grelle breathed, astonished.

"I got the board to agree to give Sebastian Nick's soul."

"Auden _how?_ "

"I just talked to them. I told them they had to." She shrugged like that was nothing, like other Shinigami who had attempted the same hadn't left that room without their heads attached to their bodies. A smile broke out on her face. "You have to go in to the usual place tomorrow at nine o'clock. And we can't be late."

Sebastian regarded her with astonishment. Who was this proud, strong girl? Who was this creature who once had fainted dead on the sidewalk at the mere thought of having to live another day and now stood defying death at every turn? How was it possible that she could care for him that much, a demon, her sworn enemy? He couldn't believe how much she'd gambled. And for him.

"You take such good care of people," Sebastian said softly.

Auden smiled. "Only those who matter to me."


	19. Epilogue 1

The soul was waiting for him, suspended in the center of a dark room. The aura that surrounded it was near invisible in the black because it _was_ black. Sebastian smiled.

"Hello, Nicholas."


	20. Epilogue 2

Grelle hadn't been to Yorkshire in ages. The Northern England air was different—from London, certainly, but the South in general. It was colder, got into your bones. The humidity that hung in the air turned to mist on that cold. Sunlight had burned the mist off by the time the three of them arrived at the National Park Centre, but it was cloudy, and cool, and the moment Grelle stepped out of the car and breathed in that air she knew it would be back.

"The plant spilled a little," Auden said from the backseat.

She peeked out the open window at Grelle, pointing at the heather Sebastian had brought down for Grelle while she'd been in the hospital. The poor thing was looking rather sickly, not meant to be kept in a ceramic pot, but to grow wild and unfettered on the Moors, so they'd decided to bring it back where it belonged. The plant _had_ spilled, dirt all over the leather seat beside Auden where the pot was buckled in.

"Quickly, then," Grelle said and hurried around to the other side of the car, opening the door and unbuckling the plant. Auden picked up the pot and Grelle swept the dirt off the seat onto the asphalt of the car park. A distance away, Sebastian was paying the parking fee at the automated booth. What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

When he returned, Auden and Grelle were both out of the car and stretching after the long drive, the heather on the boot, looking not at all suspicious. He put the ticket on the dash and locked the doors.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Ready," they said.

Grelle picked up the heather and Auden started off in the direction of the trailheads. Sebastian lingered a moment to take hold of Grelle's hand before following after Auden alongside her. Since the Shinigami had decided to give him Nick's soul, he hadn't said much about the experience. He'd emerged from the room completely healed and looking energized besides, though he must have expended loads to get his body back into working order. But he and Grelle had an unspoken agreement not to press each other when information was not immediately offered. Just to trust. It was one of the reasons they'd managed to stay together for so long.

"I didn't bring Auden up the first time," he said. "I wasn't sure how she'd take it."

Ahead of them, Auden was eagerly plucking her way down the trail, following signs to the White Horse of Kilburn. There was a bounce in her step, her shoes crunching happily on the dirt path.

"She's a North York girl, through and through," Grelle replied.

Yorkshire held plenty of bad memories for all of them. Auden her human life, Grelle and Sebastian a time when things had very nearly fallen apart. But it was hard to forget that sensation the air put into one's chest—the enchantment of feeling like you could have been the only beings on the planet. The silence of an open landscape.

"She is strong now," Sebastian replied. "I don't think there is much she cannot do."

They found a nice spot on the edge of the escarpment overlooking what James Herriot had once called England's finest view, and Sebastian dug a hole while Grelle carefully worked the heather loose. Once the hole was deep enough and the heather free, Grelle passed Auden the empty pot and placed the plant in the dirt. Together, the three of them filled in the space around it, patted the dirt down, and after they'd finished, Auden opened her water bottle to pour some of the liquid out around the heather. She stepped back, put her hands on her hips, and looked out over the valley, letting a breath out of her nose. A cool wind picked up, ruffling the heather and whistling through the trees.

"We should come back," Auden said. "In a year maybe. See how the plant is doing."

Grelle smiled. They could come back in a year. They could come back in ten. The only reason they'd been able to come at all was because they had each other. She suspected that that was all it would take to get them through eternity.

* * *

 _Author's Note: Hi, hi. Forgive me, forgive me. It's been rather a struggle as of late. Here is the final epilogue, one million years later. I'm not sure what I'll do next (Yorkshire, 1901 is on the list), so if there is anyone out there who 1) cares, 2) has a request, please do let me know! Whatever you guys want to see, I'm happy to deliver. Within reason of course. ;)_

 _Thank you so, so much for reading! It has been my pleasure to write._


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